An Initial View From the Bridge (PREVIEW)

In a world far, far away from the settling wake of the fall of Galactic Starcruiser, London’s launching its very own mission to space in the spanking-new experience of Bridge Command.

Resurrected from their 2019 production with a healthy investment of big money, this Vauxhall-based iteration of live-action hands-on full-dressed spaceship command is going to boldly go straight into a market baying for more tactile experiences: players will don their jumpsuits and each take control of a individual interactive command position on a spangly star cruiser: weapons, navigation, defense, engineering, Captain, First Officer, etc. Manning their integrated digital station or running around the ship, each person’s choices and actions have a direct effect on the narrative and real-time updates reverberate through the blinking, humming shuttle. Consequences as well as rewards can even carry over through campaigns — field promotions, story points, and character interactions are noted by the hidden Game Master and can be included in future visits. And in case there’s any confusion: this is not VR. This is an in-person fully-built digitally enhanced set with all the special effect bells and whistles.

Be assured: Bridge Command puts the experience dynamics purely in the players’ hands. This is no backseat gaming experience or voyeuristic following of the actors on a site-specific promenade; every player is included and has the opportunity to engage and affect. It is, in the strictest definition of the term, immersive.

Parabolic Theatre’s roots go deep in the London scene: from historical sandbox games like For King And Country to lockdown-era experimental text-based/Zoom adventure The House of Cenci, the designers have rarely shied away from trusting their audience to swim in the deep end on the first go ‘round. Their launch and ongoing offering of the east end Crypt venue as a homebase for emerging immersive artists places them as one of the driving forces behind new work in the city, particular in the wake of the loss of the VAULT Festival.

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Not to be constrained merely to performances, the Bridge Command venue is also opening its pod bay doors to the public, welcoming them into its space-themed bar. The Parabolic Theatre team have also hinted at future developments such as longer experience runtime options and even overnight/weekend campaigns should the launch maintain trajectory and prove popular with the LARP community.

Launching just in time for the spring comic con season, capital-bound fans of the sci-fi genre would do well to pair their Bridge Command mission with a visit to Avora for an out-of-this-world weekend.

Booking strongly recommended as soon as possible, as we predict this show’s gonna go lightspeed as soon as it hits the comms.

Bridge Command opens in London at 63 Albert Embankment, two minutes from Vauxhall tube, rail and bus station on 27 March 2024, tickets start at £40.

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