An immersive, sapphic theatre experience
Meet Carmilla, Queen of the Vampires…
Long established as the home of cutting-edge British horror, Hammer Films presents The Soulless Ones. Created by some of the most experienced and exciting practitioners in immersive theatre and film, this chilling production is based on an entirely original script and set in Hoxton Hall, a remarkable listed Victorian music hall in London’s East End.​
On arrival, guests are handed flowing black cloaks and led into the main hall. There, a bartender offers ghastly cocktails kept cool on smoking ice, and as people take to their seats, the lights turn down low…
After a short introduction from Nathaniel Blythe, a "discredited Victorian occultist", audience members are invited to become a part of the narrative, freely exploring the labyrinthine layout of Hoxton Hall and following any character or micro-storyline they desire – which, if you haven't experienced immersive theatre before – is quite the thrill.
The overall experience is somewhat surreal, dream-like even. Each room is beautifully decorated in gothic Victorian detail and at times, you find yourself so close to the action that you're completely absorbed into Carmilla and her hive's vampiric world.
The Soulless Ones, however, is not an event where actors jump out at you. Instead, audience members roam freely through dusty vaults, up to the hall's creaking rafters. Drifting through a heady world of gothic intrigue, drawn onward by questing psychics, frantic scientists, and the sapphic, supernatural seductresses Carmilla, watching on as her sinister plans fall into place before her. The cast of The Soulless Ones, it has to be noted, are excellent and completely believable.
Ancient rituals, horror and mayhem abound throughout The Soulless Ones, as the action pulls each audience member towards the night’s shocking finale – no spoilers here.​ It's a tense and intimate encounter where no two performances are the same, and no two audience experiences are quite alike.
Tantalising, intoxicating and gleefully overwhelming, The Soulless ones is a Halloween experience like none other.
The Soulless Ones runs from 3 October to 4 November 2017 at Hoxton Hall. For tickets and more click here
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