Immersive theatre, at its best, transports us to another existence. Hidden within an abandoned warehouse on the backstreets of Hoxton in east London, Lost Origin, a new interactive story created by the Almeida theatre in partnership with Factory 42 and Sky, is billed as a 60-minute problem-solving group adventure. But, despite its impressive technical illusions, its lacklustre premise fails to suspend our disbelief.
In teams of six, we’re welcomed into Wing 7, a secret undercover unit with a mission to enter the Origin headquarters, a suspected base for an illegal dark web marketplace controlled by the evil mastermind Haggledance. From the Origin reception, we’re ushered through secret doors in walls and edge-lit corridors, into a dingy, underground storeroom. Stuffed with old record players, stolen celebrity belongings and Covid-19 vaccinations, all enclosed behind code-protected glass screens – the detail is so rich it would be impossible to see it all.
Yet, even in such elaborate surroundings, our presence feels aimless. The group leader, Marsha (Daisy Badger), does her best to guide us towards clues to drive the drama forwards, but more often than not we look back at her, perplexed. Her stellar performance is not enough to stop her constant instruction from feeling overbearing and unnatural.
As the story evolves from criminal detective mission to a journey of supernatural discovery, the reliance on digital media steps up a notch. Inside the pages of a lost diary, we are given the task of determining the origins of a prehistoric fossil. Ghostly energy that we strengthen by gesturing with our hands appears, sparky, on the giant sheet walls, with mixed-reality glasses then fitted over our eyes so we can see phantom dinosaur figures. Vividly sentient, they scurry in front us, and we’re encouraged to reach out to them – a species categorisation device appears when we do. Though it doesn’t exactly make sense within this muddled narrative, it is still a bit of fun.
The culmination of a three-year research project into audiences of the future, and supported by an evidently jumbo budget, Lost Origin had staggering potential. But its visual enchantment only takes us so far.
At Hoxton Docks, London, until 4 December
