★★★✰✰
The premise of ‘immersive entertainment company’ Swamp Motel’s most recent production is that an organisation, Saint Jude, has found a way to communicate with coma patients by reading their brainwaves and having them converted to speech. You, as a kind and thoughtful volunteer, have offered to participate in the programme—but it won’t take long to realise that things aren’t as benevolent as they might seem.
100 Petty France is a nondescript building on a nondescript street, despite its fanciful name. Walking into the beige-toned reception, complete with smiling stock-image faces and bland platitudes proclaiming all the benefits of Saint Jude’s programme, feels much like walking into any medical-style office. The immersive part of the experience begins immediately, with participants handed a small ringbinder outlining what exactly Saint Jude does, how their systems work and what their responsibilities are as a ‘Guidestar’ volunteer.
Not knowing what information you’ll need to remember for the rest of the session might feel overwhelming, but rest assured, this isn’t the only time you’ll get the instructions. Once the rest of your party has assembled, you’re sent to follow the signs to a briefing room. A few more posters hang on the walls, and along with the corporate-looking blinds and surely neglected houseplants it all feels very… normal. Well, until you look at the signs on some of the doors you pass. ‘Occipital Sluicing’ and ‘Trepanning’ are thankfully closed.
Sat in the briefing room, you all sit and watch a short presentation on what Saint Jude is all about. There’s a lot to take in, and it’s easy to be drawn away from the story in favour of trying to remember what buttons you’ll need to press on your retro-style communications system once you connect with your ‘sleeper.’
Moved along again to sit in a small office booth, the story begins.
There are several interactive elements beyond the AI system, with the audience having to find various items and pieces of information around the room or use their phones, however these feel a bit like a second thought. The technical side of things is very much intended to be the star of the show.
The project has been realised in collaboration with Charisma, an AI company for the creative industries. As the software is a natural language engine, each audience member will have a different experience based on their own interactions with the story. This is a complicated and compelling project to embark on, and it certainly feels like something new.
Production company Swamp Motel says that it wants to thrill audiences “without limitations,” and although it is undoubtedly a fun experience, Saint Jude is not without its limits. The voice recognition is patchy at times, occasionally not registering what you’ve said. The system is not advanced enough to respond to more than a selection of keywords, and so your response will sometimes have no impact on the story—the sleeper continues with their narrative regardless of what you may have asked them.
The story itself is compelling, and well-written, but it’s missing a spark. Perhaps because of the format, the short runtime or the individualistic nature of the piece, it feels somewhat incomplete. The narrative ends, and you leave—questions unanswered and ears ringing from the ominous rumbling sound that accompanies the dimly-lit room where the bulk of the experience takes place.
While Saint Jude is not flawless, it is nevertheless an interesting and engaging experience. Swamp Motel’s approach to theatre marks them as a group to keep an eye on, and any future productions will surely reinforce their reputation as a creative and innovative company.
Words by Lucy Carter
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