.....to Paddington last night - a disused fire station and possibly part of an office block had been transformed by Punchdrunk into the venue for a promenade performance of 'A Drowned Man'.
Quite extraordinary, quite different from a normal night's theatre going, quite amazing.
Te venue had become 'Temple Studios' - an old film lot laid out over three floors. Arriving at out specified time- 7.10 to be precise- we were allowed in in groups of 3 or 4 to make out way through a dimly lit labyrinth to the first set - a small town square in old time America. Given masks to wear and asked not to speak, we were invited to wander through the sets and see what we could see.
The effect of all these silent, white masked people soundlessly inhabiting the locations was quite strange- it felt as if we were background characters for a film but uncertain of where to be. Gradually, We became braver, examining the artefacts that dresses the sets and sitting down in the rooms and saloon. Without warning, 'real' characters drifted in and played out a scene in movement and barely audible sound - it was left up to us to interpret the action .
As we were wandering freely without direction, there was no warning when things might happen or where; we, sometimes literally, stumbled upon the moments. At times, was very moving especially in the house, where our presence as onlookers incapable of helping gave added pathos to the situation.
All in all, a thoroughly creatively satisfying experience ......though my feet ached by the end and I wondered how they had managed to fill the top floor with such a quantity of sand!
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