Last night I had the immense pleasure of experiencing an indoors, in-person immersive theatre show for the first time since March. It was my first time doing this since the chaos all kicked off, so I was apprehensive but thrilled at the thought of seeing an almost normal show again. Thrilled is a very appropriate choice of word as the show I had the joy of seeing was Flicker – the new immersive horror show currently running at the Colab Tavern.
*You can be rest assured knowing this post will be spoiler free, and you may want to grab a drink because as always – I had a lot to say*
You really don’t need to know me well at all to know that I love theatre in any way, shape or form. However. Immersive theatre holds the biggest place in my heart and is particularly special to me. If you wish to recap yourself on what immersive theatre means to me, you can find that post here. Something you may not know about me, is that I am also a huge fan of the genres horror and thriller. I read books, I watch films (whilst I enjoy them, neither of which actually scare me), and of course: I watch theatre. Combining theatre and horror for me is a genius idea and couldn’t be more right up my street!
To date, I have now seen 5 horror theatre shows, 3 of which are immersive. The non immersive theatre ones are ‘The Woman in Black’ and ‘The Exorcist’. The immersive theatre ones are ‘Copycat’, ‘Bridge Command: Morningstar’ – you may remember that being the show that (still to date) scared me the most and the show I’m proudest of for doing, especially alone. If you missed the post I wrote about that, you can find that here. And then the final immersive horror show was last nights experience. Flicker. It was just fantastic. Tremendous fun and perfect for spooky season. Which brings us to this post. This is why, if I were reviewing Flicker, it would have got 5 gloriously beautiful gold stars from me.
A murdered victim. A mysterious and dark curse. A mystery that needs to be solved. It is up to the audience to collect and look at evidence to try and solve all these unanswered questions. But that is not all…add an angry spirit haunting the building into the mix, that you need to contact and then try and put to rest…and it seems the audience has quite a bit to deal with! As someone who finds all things supernatural fascinating and I love to learn about, going to a show which involves a seance and more (not a spoiler because that is literally written on their website), this show sounded exactly like my cup of tea.
What I love about Flicker is that it has been perfectly created, so that it is ideal for everyone. And I can assure you I am not just saying that. For a start, the cast (which actually just consists of two people) are very good at somehow just knowing their audience members. So if you want to hang back more, not throw yourself in too much but still feel involved, or if you want to throw yourself in headfirst and get very much involved, the cast are very good at picking up on this. So however much you wish to immerse yourself, this is more than doable.
Similarly, if – like me – you’re a horror fan, this show is for you. There is enough ‘scary’ content to send a chill down your spine, you’ve got some jump scares to get your adrenaline going, a couple of rather intense scenes, reminders of the ghost haunting the building are dotted throughout the show…and there is an absolutely epic finale which I know I shall not be forgetting any time soon. Seriously. It’s amazing.
However if horror isn’t your thing…there is an equal balance of less-scary content for you, so the horror element isn’t ridiculously overwhelming. There is one part of the show which could be quite intense depending on how much you can handle, and there is a part where you are left with absolutely no guidance for a few minutes (no spoilers on why though!). But besides this, there is a fair bit of content regarding the murder mystery you can do which equals out the scare factors in the show. Anyway, I digress. So. As I said. The show is ideal for everyone. Everyone’s a winner!
Something I really appreciated about Flicker, is that the show did not put scares in there for the sake of it. I’m not a fan of people scaring you with no purpose as I don’t feel it leads anywhere. In Flicker, there is a very real (and quite sad and emotional) story, through which the scare elements fit in, and there are reasons behind what the ghost is doing, rather than the ghost causing mayhem just because it’s bored. Furthermore, the horror elements and jump scares start off as mild and build up and get worse throughout the show, until you reach that epic conclusion I mentioned. I found this not only helpful for those who may have been a bit nervous – as this build up eases them into the horror, but also incredibly clever. As more evidence is found and as questions are answered, more questions arise, and the mystery becomes more convoluted…it felt to me that the horror and the scares increase, the closer to the solving of the murder you get…I could feel the tension building and the atmosphere in the room shifting, something which can not have been easy for Colab Theatre Productions to achieve, but achieve it they did, and so very effectively at that.
As I said at the start of this post – I was apprehensive as to how the show would be, with new covid guidelines. Colab Theatre Productions are excellent at doing immersive theatre shows without covid, so I had high hopes they’d have been able to stage a show even with all the new regulations. They did not disappoint, as they never do. Temperature checks before you even set foot inside the building, masks worn when moving throughout the building, everyone seated in their pods (people you attended with) and sat 2m apart from other audience members, with hand sanitiser and anti-bacterial wipes galore. It is clear safety has been very much thought through and is a top priority.
Initially, I was reluctant to just go off gallivanting through the building when I was given a task to do, as I was unsure if this was still allowed. Prior to covid, audience members were encouraged in shows to explore the spaces in the building, to see if they can find anything of use that may help in the show. However, post covid, I assumed this would not be permitted. It seems I was mistaken. Audience members are still free to leave their seats – provided masks are on – and only a certain amount of people are permitted to get up and adventure out at a time, so covid and social distancing measures are still met. Colab Theatre Productions have found a perfect middle ground between audience members being safe, but still being able to explore the building. The magic of immersive theatre has not been lost to the covid safety, and the feeling of escapsim and getting truly lost in a show is still as present as ever.
At the start of the show tou are given three pieces of crucial information about spirits: they are drawn to light and sound, and whilst upstairs in the building, the lights are on so you can work on the mystery, downstairs in the basement there is no light on and sound is to be kept to a minimum. In the upstairs part of the building, there are parts of the show where you need to be a bit more quieter, and a bit more graceful on your feet. For context…I am a very enthusiastic person, and the more I love a show…the more excitable I get. And I am as graceful on my feet as an elephant on rollerskates. I’m like a child who didn’t grow up. So when I momentarily forget myself and end up making a lot of noise…the spirit decides to remind audience members it is very much present in typical ghostie ways – making noises, turning lights out…and if the lights go out, you are very seriously warned, you are all in fact in danger. It sounds like tremendous fun, doesn’t it?!
The beauty of live theatre, is that it feels so real. When watching a film or reading a book, it’s easy to disconnect yourself from what’s happening. The same with any form of theatre, you do need to use your imagination and suspend your disbelief. However Flicker have done a fantastic job at helping you out here. So if suspending your disbelief is something you struggle with, Flicker is more than helpful there. They have been able to create a delightfully eerie and tense piece of theatre, full of suspense and that can be particularly unnerving, so really, I’d be impressed if you don’t believe it, because of how real the whole experience felt to me. And if, like me, you need reminders to be hushed up…fret not. Make too much noise and the angry spirit will remind you and make their presence known.
(Have I convinced you to book your tickets yet?)
If you are someone who has a very active imagination (guilty), then you’ll understand when I say: your own mind is your worst enemy in a show like this. I have been to this building before. Many times, in fact. But after not setting foot inside for 8 months, combined with the dark and dingy atmosphere, and sometimes it being pitch black…suddenly I had forgotten everything about the building and it was like I was exploring it for the first time. And then exploring it in the dark? Every shadow looks like a person, you have no idea what will be lurking in corners, every sense is heightened and every sound right down to a creak of a floorboard is enough to get the heart racing.
That feeling is the one I love and thrive off. You may remember me saying this in my Morningstar post, but I will say it again: my best friend used to say it’s good – healthy even – to feel scared. I never used to understand, but from last years horror show I understood. The same applies to this year. With the tense atmosphere within this spine chilling show, my heart was racing, my adrenaline was at an all time high…and I felt more alive last night than I have in months.
Which nicely brings me onto the mental health aspect. If you’ve been following me on social media or read my blog for a while, you’ll know I’m quite open about my mental health as I hope by talking about it we can reduce stigma. I won’t deny: these last months have been tough. Really tough. I know I’m not alone on that but I can only write about my own personal experience. Last night was a blessing beyond words for my mental health. Seeing my favourite kind of theatre again, being able to escape from being in my own head, throwing myself head first into the supernatural. It was the escapism I needed right now. For a few hours, my own anxiety, covid, the state of the word…it was all forgotten about. Colab Theatre Productions have made a show that is perfect for forgetting your troubles, and instead you focus on a cheery tale of murder, a curse and ghosts. I don’t think I could have been happier or loved it more if I tried. I’m sure it comes as no surprise to anyone that I will be going back one more time before it closes. Needless to say, Flicker was everything I needed and more, and now I really hope now immersive theatre is starting up again, I can see more.
Flicker is running until the 8th November and is so popular that shows are selling out rapidly – the whole of halloween is gone! If that doesn’t tell you how good this show is, I don’t know what will. So go and grab your tickets whilst you can! There is still availability for their last week, you can get tickets from here.
If this post has not convinced you, or you are still determined that Flicker is sadly not the show for you, you may want to consider going to see Colab’s next show which is returning: Crooks:1926. Put plainly, it’s 1920’s and gangsters. Think Peaky Blinders vibes. I saw this show pre-covid and loved it (of course), and if you wish to read it, my 5 star review for that show can be found here. I for one am very keen to go back and see the show when it returns. If you think that is your sort of show, you can buy tickets for that here.
And that brings us to the end! That is why, had I been reviewing, Flicker would have gotten a beautiful 5 stars from me. It’s a perfectly eerie and chilling show; there is nothing more appropriate to go and experience for halloween. Now, I’m going to watch The Exorcist on repeat until I can go back to the Colab Tavern again, and hope the lights don’t start to go out…
One Show at a Time 