BroadwayWorld's 40 Immersive Shows to Experience in 2025
There's something for everyone to throw themselves into.
By: Franco Milazzo Jan. 11, 2025
There's no doubt that 2025 will another fascinating year for immersive theatre, the fastest-growing art form around. There's more choice than ever to jump into a different world, whether it is diving down to the Titanic, joining the crew of a spaceship, engaging with the residents of a cyberpunk Wild West town or solving a puzzling murder aboard a moving train.
This year, audiences can sit at the Round Table for The Traitors Live Experience, don their blue suede shoes for Elvis Evolution, wander through the world of The Phantom Of The Opera or see St Paul's Cathedral in a brand new light in Luxmuralis' Luminous.
We've picked out 40 of the biggest and best experiences in London and beyond. Get stuck in!
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Photo credit: Yannick Lalardy
1. Chronic Insanity, Omnibus Theatre
In this mixed season of live and online works, there’s a fantastic range of shows. Turn up in person to guide a group of friends after a plane crash to safety in All Fall Down, use playing cards to explore your fears and curiosities in 52 Souls or wander through a pyramid as archaeologists and magicians in Imprisoned With The Pharaohs. Online, there’s a chance to find out why reviews and comments led to a favourite restaurant closing in Flavour Text or follow the founder of a tech company facing a layoff before a major launch in Myles Away.
Omnibus Theatre. 14-24 January. More details.
2. Łukasz Twarkowski: The Employees, Queen Elizabeth Hall
Employees of the 6000 Spaceship, under the watchful eye of a mysterious Organisation, are exploring the New Discovered – a planet far away from Earth. Who among them is human, and who is a human-like humanoid? And who can say no to a mysterious premise like that? Twarkowski’s debut will see him interpret Olga Ravn’s dystopian novel which was nominated for an International Booker Award. Audience members will be able get into the thick of the action and move around the space between acts so as to experience the performance from different points of view.Seating on the stage is in the form of block benches but there are regular seats available for the duration in the front stalls.
Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre. 16-19 January. More details.
3. Six by Nico: Murder On The Midnight Express, various
It’s Paris, October 1930. Chef Gustave Laroche has been found dead and policeman Adrien Laurent would very much appreciate your assistance in this high-profile homicide. Featuring half a dozen courses of exquisite cuisine, the latest themed culinary experience by Six By Nico sees clues served up alongside a side of clues to crack. Diners are given their own detective kit and pack with each dish and have two-and-a-half hours to review the crime scene and work out the identity of the killer.
See website for restaurant locations. 27 January - 9 March. More details.
4. Beyond The Wardrobe, Kingswood Arts
A young girl lives out what seems like a whole lifetime in a magical world, only to return to the harshness of her dated reality and find that she is considered mentally unsound and incarcerated. This one-woman immersive performance from Dodo Watson-Saunders takes its audience on a journey through an uncomfortable world exploring the effects of a dysfunctional relationship.
Kingswood Arts. 28 January - 2 February. More details.
5. Antigone (on strike), Park Theatre
Set in an interactive media studio and inspired by Sophocles’ classic tragedy Antigone and the real accounts of so called “ISIS brides”, this show allows the audience to vote and affect the direction of a story about sisters Esmeh and Antiya. One is stranded in a refugee camp and has had her British passport cancelled; the other battles the politicians to get her sibling back amid an ever-growing PR frenzy. The show previously ran at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre in 2022 and returns to North London written and directed by Alexander Raptotasios.
Park Theatre. 30 January - 22 February. More details.
Photo credit: The Undisposables
6. In The Dark, various
A sound experience performed entirely in the dark - for both the audience and the musicians - In The Dark keeps its music and “playlist” secret right up until you take your seat. Details on what was heard are provided on the way out and, in between, there’s an hour-long set to absorb without any of the usual distractions. A special series of events sees an hour dedicated to re-workings of tracks by dinner party-favourites Coldplay. There will be few opportunities to immerse yourself so deeply into a work of art this year.
Original sound experience: Great St Barts church, 30 January - 1 February. Cutty Sark, 25 January. Trinity Riverside, 20 - 28 March. More details.
Coldplay Unfurled: Great St Barts Church, 30 January - 1 February. More details.
7. Titanic VR: Echoes From The Past, tbc
From the creators of the recently closed Life Chronicles and Horizons of Khufu VR comes a literal deep dive into the wide blue yonder. This immersive exhibition combines historical facts, fictional reconstructions, and interactive storytelling to take the audience virtually beneath the ocean waves and into a recreation of the ill-fated liner. Feel free to sing “My Heart Will Go On” as you stroll alongside passengers on the boat deck and walk down the grand staircase.
Location unknown. February 2025. More details.
8. ‘Luminous’ by Luxmuralis, St Paul's Cathedral
After creating light shows at Westminster Abbey, Durham Cathedral and Oxford University, Luxmuralis (an artistic collaboration between sculptor Peter Walker and com,poser David Harper) turns its attention to St Paul’s Cathedral, turning its history, collections and archives into spectacular illuminations and soundscapes. The week-long event will raise funds towards the church, helping to preserve its history and heritage.
St. Paul’s Cathedral. 22-28 February. More details.
9. The Slayters, Hackney Showroom
Dive into a world of drama, deception and games where the stakes are high, the lies are juicy, and the competition is fierce. Your mission? Sniff out the slippery Slayters among you and avoid getting “murdered” and banished from the Square Table. Can you spot who’s the real deal and who’s just “Katfishing” their way to the top? Featuring a host to keep you on your toes and live performances, this one comes with prizes for the winners.
Hackney Showroom. 6 Feb. More details.
10. Save The Princess, Hen & Chickens Theatre
A hit at Camden and Edinburgh Fringes with gamers and non-gamers alike, this sees the audience tasked with helping Princess Plum escape her captors. Depending on their choices, she could end up in a Wild West shootout, running about on a football pitch or walking through a creepy “Animal Crossing”-style village. There’s thirteen unique worlds and six possible endings so, like the best games, there’s plenty of replay potential here.
Hen & Chickens Theatre. 11-14 February. More details.
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11. The Shop for Mortals and Fools, Stanley Arts Centre
In this site-responsive and immersive physical theatre experience conceived by Punchdrunk veteran Vinicius Salles, we dive into a shop filled with a mysterious collection of relics, trinkets and other objects. Gods and mortals clash and old memories vie with modern insights in this story based Euripides’ The Bacchae.
Stanley Arts Centre. 14 February - 2 March. More details.
12. Into The Dreamlands, Drayton Arms Theatre
You are invited to a demonstration of the alleged powers of a dreamer; to join their ritual and explore the Dreamlands. Together, attendees will control the dreamer’s exploration of that rumoured place of strange cities and peoples. Offered anything you can dream of, what will you do? What will you learn? And what can you afford to lose? Part of The London Lovecraft Festival, expect an atmosphere of horror that foregoes jump scares and instead leaves your imagination to run free into the darkness.
Drayton Arms Theatre. 15 February. More details.
13. The Estate of Randolph Carter, Drayton Arms Theatre
It has been nearly a decade since the disappearance of Mr Randolph Carter, legendary occultist, academic, and explorer. At the estate auction, audience members will be asked to represent an organisation and given some funds, priorities and information in order to meet their objectives. Expect heated interest and horse-trading as some of Carter’s stranger things come up for sale. Devised by Leo Doulton (associate creative director of The Key of Dreams), this 2-hour interactive experience will be held as part of the London Lovecraft Festival.
Drayton Arms Theatre. 17 February. More details.
14. Deathcell: Magenta, Hackney Wick
Those who like it scary should book into R Space Production’s latest effort. A prequel to their award-winning 2018 adventure, this hour-long terror ride will be at a yet-to-be-revealed location in Hackney Wick and will look to deliver on “cinematic short-film, time-pressured puzzle solving and immersive horror”. Prepare to find your way through escape rooms and make “seemingly impossible decisions” as you come face-to-face with Magenta, the twisted mind behind these trials.
Hackney Wick. 21 February-1 March. More details.
Photo credit: Flavour&Some
15. Flavour&Some Experience At Control Room A, Battersea Power Station
Behind the gold-coffered doors of one of Battersea Power Station’s control rooms, Flavour & Some return with a luxurious culinary adventure that brings together chef Adam Thomason, formerly of the three Michelin-starred Noma, and acclaimed Creative Director Eileih Muir. Expect a five-course journey that blurs the boundaries between dining and theatre featuring dynamic live performances. The exact details are hush-hush but, if their previous events are anything to go by, this promises to be one of 2025’s most memorable nights.
Battersea Power Station. 28 February - 2 March. More details.
16. The Lost Estate: Paradise Under The Stars, Earls Court
Just as winter loosens its grip, The Lost Estate will pop up in March to transport us to sunny Cuba. Their previous immersive dining events have seen the audience gripped by a murder-mystery in Victorian England or jiving away in a Jazz Age speakeasy. As well as a Latin-flavoured menu, this collaboration with the musicians Luanda Pau, Maikel Mota, and Yelfris Valdes should mean some foot-stomping tunes throughout the night.
Earls Court. March 2025. More details.
17. Bacchanalia, Hoxton Hall
With its blend of dynamic dance, dark theatrics and psychedelic storytelling, there has always been a Punchdrunk vibe about Sleepwalk Immersive’s Seventies-styled version of Euripides’ The Bacchae and, given that the former are in something of a lull, the latter has stepped up with an expanded show taking over East London’s Hoxton Hall. Audiences can move around the venue as they watch bad boy Dionysus come to Thebes and wreak a very particular vengeance on the Mayor and his family. We saw Bacchanalia during one its two runs in Bethnal Green’s smaller CRYPT space and this step up is highly anticipated.
Hoxton Hall. 11-23 March 2025. More details.
18. asses.masses, Battersea Arts Centre
A herd of unemployed donkeys with names like Hard Ass, Bad Ass and Slow Ass try to get their jobs back, all while navigating the perils of a post-Industrial society in which they’ve been made redundant, is the basis for this custom video game created by Patrick Blenkarn and Milton Lim which is played out over 7 hours by a live audience. One person at a time takes charge of the controls as we witness the animals take on numerous challenges. Staged over here as part of the London Games Festival, our US colleagues called it “a special ass show”.
Battersea Arts Centre. 12 and 13 April. More details.
19. The Traitors Live Experience, tbc
Coming sometime this Spring to an undisclosed London location, this immersive experience based the cult TV show will see eager opportunists and potential backstabbers gathered around the iconic Round Table. For those who like to keep their friends close (and enemies closer), private Round Tables will be available. Get those knives sharpened - this one will sell out.
Unknown location. Spring. More details.
Photo credit: Layered Reality
20. Elvis Evolution, Immersive LDN
First it was going to happen in November 2024, and then this March. The latest opening date for this long-awaiting interactive exhibition about the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll is now set for May and, coming from the same tech-savvy folk behind the VR-powered The War Of The Worlds and The Gunpowder Plot, punters can expect to “use generative AI to deliver intimate moments” in a walkthrough show for 180 people per performance. There’ll also be an interval Tiki bar, a 1960s diner and an “All Shook Up” afterparty for all ticket holders.
Immersive LDN, London Excel Waterfront. 10 May onwards. More details.
21. Ready Steady Go!, Unicorn Theatre
Vroom vroom! Aimed for those between 3 and 8 years old, everyone will work on colouring and crafting their own car from cardboard before taking it for a spin. This interactive experience combines live performance, music, storytelling and painting. Get your motor cleaned up at a bubble car wish, navigate some gnarly road works and learn about road safety along the way!
Unicorn Theatre, 21 May - 22 June. More details.
22. Voidspace Festival 2025, Theatre Deli
After its launch last year, London's only festival of immersive theatre returns with a new programme.
Theatre Deli, 7-8 June. More details.
23. Dreamachine, tbc
Described in a rave Guardian review as “as close to state-funded psychedelic drugs as you can get”, this trippy experience asks its small audience to lie back in their seat, put aside their daily thoughts and let the flickering white light and 360-degree spatial sound invade their conscious mind. Inspired by a device created in the Fifties, the results are different to everyone and there’s a chance to share and draw what you saw at the end. There’s no exact information on where and when Dreamachine will pop up next but expect a UK and international tour sometime this year.
Unknown location and dates. More details.
24. Phantom Of The Opera, New York
In 2025, we finally go from the Phantom Of The Opera being “inside your mind” to us going inside one of the most famous musicals of the 20th century. Andrew Lloyd Webber is fully onboard and has apparently picked out an impressively large off-Broadway location. Now that Punchdrunk’s Sleep No More has closed, this could become the biggest immersive experience in the Big Apple and anticipation is incredibly high.
Watch this space for the latest details.
There are also a number of recommended continuing shows.
25. Phantom Peak, Canada Water
“It is not the only impressive immersive show in town but its near-peerless execution and boundless imagination puts it up there with the more well known Punchdrunk.”
26. Bridge Command, Vauxhall
“Ever wanted to captain a spaceship on a mission to explore strange new worlds, seek out new life and new civilisations and perhaps shoot up some enemy ships along the way? With the aid of a shiny new £3.5m set, Parabolic Theatre’s Bridge Command realises every sci-fi geek’s dream.”
27. Come Alive! The Greatest Showman Spectacular, Empress Museum
Based on the 2017 hit film about PT Barnum, Come Alive! The Greatest Showman Circus Spectacular is blend of circus, story and songs.
28. Dead On Time: A Moving Murder Mystery, Belmond Trains
“It’s 1951 and, as the nation prepares itself for the Festival of Britain, a heinous crime has been committed. After a murder most foul, ten suspects, a killer hiding in plain sight and around two hundred passengers-cum-amateur detectives find themselves all aboard the same train. It’s fair to say that Dead On Time knows how to set a scene even before we step aboard.”
29. Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version Of The War Of The Worlds: The Immersive Experience
“Martians, music and mayhem: who could ask for more from an immersive show?”
30. Jury Duty, Theatre Deli
“In an anonymous room in the City, a group of people is summoned to discuss the crimes of a man who swears his innocence. Jury Duty is as immersive as it gets.”
31. The Gunpowder Plot, Tower Hill Vaults
You don't get many chances to be rushed into a wall to hide from the Protestant establishment or to transport gunpowder across the Thames in a 5D boat chase right before being escorted to a cell and witnessing a murder.
32. The Key Of Dreams, Treowen
“With tickets costing £400 each and a Lovecraftian storyline stretching over 24 hours, is Lemon Difficult’s The Key Of Dreams the ultimate in immersive theatre?”
33. The Magicians Table, Tanner Street
“From the outset, its clear that The Magicians Table is too cool for school. It’s certainly too cool for a helpful apostrophe but it becomes obvious very soon that we’re talking about multiple illusionists including the recently departed Dieter Rotenburg. This show is his wake and we, the dearly beloved, are gathered here to pay tribute to his final trick and enjoy the company of his fellow professionals.”
34. Monopoly Lifesized, Tottenham Court Road
“‘Under capitalism, man exploits man. Under communism, it's just the opposite.’ Attributed to Nobel Prize-winning economist and Ali G interviewee JK Galbraith, this is the phrase that rolls around my head as I take on the Crystal Maze-like Monopoly Lifesized, a highly entertaining take on arguably art's single greatest monument to the pursuit of personal wealth.”
35. The Paddington Bear Experience, Riverside Building
Step into Paddington’s world by helping him and the Brown family for a very special occasion, The Marmalade Day Festival! Board the train from Paddington Station to 32 Windsor Gardens and be transported to the Peruvian jungle, where you’ll meet beloved characters from the films, help them solve puzzles and play games to make the Marmalade Day Festival the best celebration ever.
36. Avora, Hackney Rd
A theatrical cocktail experience with more than a few nods to a certain sci-fi blockbuster, don a jumpsuit and get ready to suit up and set foot on an alien planet. If interstellar drama isn’t your jam, check out sibling shows (36) Alcotraz and (37) Moonshine Saloon.
38. Vogue: Inventing The Runway, The Lightroom
The Devil Wears Prada wasn't the only fashion-related opening of last year. Narrated by Cate Blanchett, this exhibition explores the history of the fashion runway show, from the intimate couture salons of the early 20th century to the unforgettable pop-culture events of the present. Alternatively, get into space with Tom Hanks for a look at past and future missions to our nearest heavenly neighbour in (39) The Moonwalkers.
40. The Murdér Express, Pedley Street
Comedy theatre and fine dining come together for an evening of murder-mystery set in the Roaring Twenties. Willing detectives can sip a cocktail, dig into a three-course meal and interview the suspects before pointing the metaphorical finger, hopefully in the right direction.
Photo credit: Natalia Kabanow
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