Punchdrunk (theatre company)

Punchdrunkis a Britishtheatre company,formed in 2000 byFelix Barrett.

Punchdrunk

Company type	Theatre company
Industry	Arts & Entertainment
Founded	2000
Founder	Felix Barrett
Headquarters	Woolwich,London , United Kingdom
Website	punchdrunk

The company developed a form ofimmersive theatrein which no audience member will have the same experience as another. The audience is free to choose what to watch and where to go.The format is related topromenade theatre,but usesaudience immersionmore extensively.The company has been recognized for its unique uses of sound, light, movement and environment. In 2015, Punchdrunk formed a new company,Punchdrunk International,which produces a selection of Punchdrunk's commercial productions for national and international audiences.

The company is a National Portfolio Organisation withArts Council England.

Theatrical style

In a typical Punchdrunk production, audience members are free to roam the performance site, which can be as large as a five-story industrial warehouse. They can either follow the performers and themes (there are usually multiple threads at any instant), or simply explore the world of the performance, treating the production as a largeart installation.

Masksare another signature element of Punchdrunk's work. Barret says when the company "...introduced masks, suddenly inhibition fell away and people found a sense of freedom in their anonymity, allowing them to fully explore their surroundings and become totally absorbed in the world around them."

FormerSecretary of State for CultureJames Purnellcited Punchdrunk as an example of "access and excellence" in modernBritish theatre.

Related organizations

Punchdrunk Enrichment

In 2008, Punchdrunk founded a new branch of the company focused on outreach to communities and schools called Punchdrunk Enrichment. Punchdrunk Enrichment projects are mostly aimed at children and young people.

Projects from Punchdrunk Enrichment include:

• Under the Eiderdown(2009 - 2014), a theatrical experience in which school pupils are invited to visit a magical bric-a-brac shop, encouraging them to show an interest in creative writing.
• Against Captain's Orders: A Journey into the Uncharted(2015), an immersive exhibition for children at theNational Maritime Museumin London.
• Greenhive Green(2016), a project for Greenhive Care Home residents, including those with dementia, in partnership with Magic Me.
• Small Wonders(2018 & 2019), a magical, interactive experience for children aged 5–11 years old and their familiesatBernie Grant Arts Centre, Tottenhamand Edinburgh International Children's Festival.

Punchdrunk International

In 2015, Punchdrunk founded a new production company,Punchdrunk International.Felix Barrett serves as the Artistic Director of Punchdrunk International. Company members include Creative Producer Colin Nightingale, Creative Director Stephen Dobbie and Design Director Livi Vaughan.

The company has also collaborated with selected organisations, including a long term creative partnership withSamsung North America.Projects made in collaboration with the company includeBelieve Your Eyes,a VR experience for Cannes Lions Festival, 2016. The experience has since travelled to Art Basel Miami, Samsung 837 in New York and Phi Centre, Montreal.Believe Your Eyeswas awarded a Silver Lion in the Entertainment category at Cannes 2017.

Fallow Cross

In 2017, Punchdrunk opened Fallow Cross,a research and development space in Tottenham Hale.

Punchdrunk productions

• The Cherry Orchard(2000), based on the play byAnton Chekhov
• The Moonslave (2000),an experience that saw single audience members taken to an old mansion house by a masked chauffeur, following candlelit paths through a dense forest where the story unraveled.
• The House of Oedipus(2000), an adaptation ofOedipus RexandAntigonebySophocles,staged in the garden ofPoltimore House,Devon.
• Midsummer Night's Dream(2002), an interactive, promenade reworking of theShakespeareclassic set in a private house and garden.
• Chair(2002), an adaptation ofEugène Ionesco'sThe Chairs,performed in theOld Seager DistilleryinDeptford.
• The Tempest(2003), an adaptation of the play by Shakespeare, again performed at the Old Seagar Distillery, using its five floors to create a dark vision of Prospero's island.
• Sleep No More(2003); see below for the2009and2011reinventions. An adaptation of Shakespeare'sMacbethin the style of aHitchcockthriller, using reworked music from the soundtrack of classic Hitchcock films. Staged at the Beaufoy Building in London, an old Victorian school.
• Woyzeck(2004), an adaptation of the play byGeorg Buchner.Performed at theBig Chill Music Festival.
• Marat/Sade(2005), an adaptation of the play byPeter Weiss.Performed at the 2005Big Chill Music Festival.
• The Firebird Ball(2005), inspired by Shakespeare'sRomeo and JulietandStravinsky'sballetThe Firebird.Staged atOffley Works,a disused factory inSouth London.The Firebird Ballran for six weeks and receivedThe Observer Review of the Yearaward for Best Out-of-Theatre Experience.
• Faust(10 October 2006 until 31 March 2007), an adaptation ofGoethe'sFaustPart One,relocated to a small town in the 1950sMidwest.Staged across 150,000 sq ft (14,000 m²) of a derelict 5-storey archive building at 21 Wapping Lane in the London neighbourhood ofWapping.The production, which was presented by Punchdrunk and theNational Theatre,earned the company a nomination for theEvening Standard Theatre Awardfor Most Promising Newcomer and won the2006 Critics' Circle Theatre Awardfor Best Designer.
• The Masque of the Red Death (play)(2007–8), a co-production withBattersea Arts Centre(BAC). An adaptation of stories byEdgar Allan Poeincluding "The Masque of the Red Death".Performed at the BAC from 5 October 2007 until 12 April 2008.While each performance culminated in a ball scene, Friday and Saturday night performances were followed by Red Death Lates, an elaborate after-party with interactive performance, celebrity guests, live bands and cabaret.
• Tunnel 228(2009), a collaboration with theOld Victheatre, in the abandoned tunnels beneath London'sWaterloo station.
• Sleep No More,a 2009 reinvention in Boston of the 2003 London production. An adaptation of Shakespeare'sMacbeth.Produced in association with theAmerican Repertory Theatreat theOld Lincoln SchoolinBrookline, Massachusetts.
• It Felt Like A Kiss(2009). Commissioned by theManchester International Festivaland produced in collaboration with documentary filmmakerAdam Curtisand musicianDamon Albarnat a deserted office block inSpinningfields,Manchester. It depicted "America's rise to power in the golden age of pop, and the nightmare that came back to haunt us all."The production won theManchester Evening News Theatre Awardfor Best Special Entertainment.
• The Duchess of Malfi(2010), an operatic adaptation ofthe play by John Websterwith ascorebyTorsten Rasch.Produced in collaboration withEnglish National Operaand performed in a vast, decommissioned pharmaceutical headquarters at London's Great Eastern Quay.
• Sleep No Morea 2011 reinvention in New York of the 2003 London production (also revived in Boston in 2009). Performed in disused warehouses at 530 W27th Streetin Manhattan, which was transformed into a faded hotel.Sleep No Morewon aDrama Desk Awardfor Unique Theatrical Experience and a Special Citation For Design And Choreography at theObie Awards.
• The Crash of the Elysium,commissioned byManchester International Festival,BBC,London 2012 FestivalandSalford City Council.A 2011 one-hour show for children aged between 6 and 12, made in collaboration with the television seriesDoctor Who.
• The Drowned Man: A Hollywood Fable(2013-2014), an adaptation ofWoyzeckset in a sixties film studio, performed in a disused postal sorting office in Paddington, London.Presented by Punchdrunk and theNational Theatre.
• The Burnt City(2022-2023), a production based around the fall of Troy, performed inWoolwich'sRoyal Arsenal,London.

Punchdrunk International productions

• ANTIdiaRy, a 2016 collaboration with Samsung and international recording artistRihannato mark the launch of her eighth studio albumANTI.The project won aBronze Lionin the Integrated Campaign Led By Promo & Activation category at theCannes Lions International Festival of Creativity 2016.
• Sleep No More,a 2016 re-imagining of the London production in Shanghai. An adaptation ofShakespeare'sMacbeth.Co-produced withShanghai Media Group Live.
• Believe Your Eyes,a 2016 VR experience commissioned by Samsung for theCannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.Believe Your Eyeswas awarded a Silver Lion in the Entertainment category at Cannes 2017.
• The Guilty Party,a 2017 interactive experience commissioned byTurner Broadcasting System(TBS) and Civic Entertainment Group, USA for the launch of season two ofSearch Party.
• The Third Dayis a co-production betweenSky StudiosandHBO,in partnership withPlan B Entertainment,writerDennis Kellyand Punchdrunk International. The six-part, one-hour episode limited series starsJude Lawas Sam,who after being drawn to a mysterious Island off the British Coast, is thrown into the unusual world of its secretive inhabitants.
• The Burnt Cityis a production based around the fall of Troy, performed inWoolwich'sRoyal Arsenal,London in 2022.

The Punchdrunk Encyclopaedia

The Punchdrunk Encyclopaediawas published byRoutledgein 2019, edited by the theatre scholar Josephine Machon.Development of the book began in 2014, after Machon interviewedFelix Barrettfor a book on British theatre companies.Machon interviewed further members of Punchdrunk and visited Barrett's parents' home.

The book is structured as an encyclopaedia to allow non-linear exploration of its contents, mirroring Punchdrunk's non-linear performances.It was reviewed byThe Times Literary Supplement,and nominated for theTheatre Book Prizein 2020.

See also

• Site-specific theatre
• Postmodern theatre

Further reading

• Machon, Josephine.The Punchdrunk Encyclopaedia,Routledge (2018).
• Biggin, Rose. "Immersive Theatre and Audience Experience Space, Game and Story in the Work of Punchdrunk" Palgrave Macmillan, Cham (2017)
• Machon, Josephine.Immersive Theatres: Intimacy and Immediacy in Contemporary Performance.London: Palgrave (2013).
• White, Gareth. "On Immersive Theatre".Theatre Research International37.3 (2012): 221–35.
• Machon, Josephine.(Syn)aesthetics: Redefining Visceral Performance.London: Palgrave (2009).
• Oddey, Alison and Christine White (eds.).Modes of Spectating.Bristol: Intellect (2009).

External links

• Official website
• Sleep No More, Shanghaiofficial homepage