Bethnal Green St Peter’s Church hosts the new Immersive Theatre production by Parchment Sword Stone. J division of the Metropolitan Police are trying to solve five murders and prevent the sixth from imminently taking place, as the last four took place on consecutive nights. Time is of the essence.
The cast split the audience into two parts sections one group communicates with the other police divisions attempting to obtain their help and manpower to dispatch forces to different crime scenes in the hope of finding clues. While the others put clues together and profile the victims and link any potential connections to establish and capture the killer/killers.
The audience's adrenaline builds up throughout the investigation slowly. Whether you arrive to take part as a solo player or in a larger group the parties soon work together and start interacting as everyone is there to put their sleuthing hats on.
Expect twists and direction changes throughout the investigation. Just as things start to come together it turns into yet another dead end and you're required to work that bit harder. The cast leads the investigation throughout the evening, although their guidance is subtle and steers gently rather than giving clear firm instructions. Their subtle “leadership” works perfectly.
SMITE's true identity is revealed about two-thirds into the event. That’s all I am divulging about this section so as not to give away spoilers.
Overall the evening is really good fun and I pushed myself to think outside my boundaries and into the mind of the killers. Certainly not an easy feat.
However, navigating your way through Bethnal Green can be challenging for the first time. The ideal venue is just not necessarily an ideal location.
The evening is advertised to last up to three hours, realistically it is around two hours without a break which is plenty of time to fully immerse yourself into the role and attempt to solve the murders.
It runs until 10 June.
Review: Elaine Chapman