Internationally-acclaimed immersive theatre company Punchdrunk is returning to London for the first time since 2014 with its largest live show to date, The Burnt City, staged in the company’s new home Woolwich Works from 22 March 2022 (the official opening is 21 April). Set across three Grade-II listed buildings, the show tells the story of Greek tragedy The Fall of Troy, transposed to a future parallel world (dates).
The Burnt City will be Punchdrunk’s most ambitious production to date, opening in the wake of long-running international productions Sleep No More in New York and in Shanghai (where it has been playing to sold out audiences since it reopened in June 2020 following a Covid pause). The production reunites the creative team behind Sleep No More and features a cast of international performers, including original members of the first Punchdrunk shows.
The Burnt City will take place in the company’s new home in Woolwich Arsenal – taking over three Grade II Listed Buildings as part of the Royal Borough of Greenwich’s new creative district, Woolwich Works. This will be the first time some of the buildings have ever been opened to the public.
The epic size of these buildings offers the company a scale never before seen in a Punchdrunk show with vast heights and over 100,000 square feet of space. Alongside the production, the buildings will be the permanent home for Punchdrunk, as the company develops new works across theatre, TV and gaming.
In the smouldering promise of the fall of Troy, a mythical world of Gods and mortals rises from the ashes. As Greece teeters on the brink of victory, the neon backstreets of Downtown Troy give way to a sprawling labyrinth hiding secrets even the prophecies could not foretell. In this colossal playground, the furies watch on as mortals play out their fate. And as night falls, the city comes alive. One last time
On their own theatrical adventure, audiences are free to explore this dystopian landscape – taking them from the majesty of royal palaces to the pulsating underworld of Troy. Audiences may choose to follow the characters who emerge from the shadows, saturate themselves in the show’s shifting atmosphere, or break free of the crowd and discover mysteries lying in wait at the heart of the labyrinth.
Following a break from the capital, with international productions and an award-winning foray into TV, with The Third Day, Punchdrunk is back in London to premiere its first major new show since The Drowned Man.
