COMING SOON: The Key Of Dreams

The makers of The Key of Dreams found themselves with a bona fide hit on their hands with their first foray into the realm of overnight immersive experiences. (You don’t have to take just our word for it, no less than international immersive connoisseur Neil Patrick Harris is on record as loving The Locksmith’s Dream.)

Now the creators of that getaway are back with an original work based on some of the founding texts of the “weird fiction” genre, taking on the disturbing — and yes, often problematic — tales and writers and growing the ideas in new directions in an experience that will prove to be unique to each set of visitors.

A small group of guests for each run will stay over at a 17th century manor house in the countryside wherein the story unfolds all around them and in response to their actions. It’s the kind of setup that many immersive fans, well, that they Dream about.

We checked in with The Key of Dreams founder & creative director Ivan Carić about the new show which will debut in late April and be available for booking later in the year for dates in May and October, as well as by special arrangement, starting at £400.

This is No Proscenium’s COMING SOON, a look at ongoing immersive experiences & events. To learn more about how your event could be considered for the feature check out How To Get Covered By NoPro.

No Proscenium: Tell us a little bit about your experience! What’s it about? What makes it immersive?

Ivan Carić: It is an invitation to immerse yourself for twenty four hours in a macabre and mysterious world. This sounds like hyperbole, but guests will come and stay at a 17th century manor house, filled with fascinating stories, objects and characters that they can investigate and interact with at their own pace, and in their own way.

The stories of the house and the characters are told in a wealth of detail from the world of weird fiction stories. Guests of the experience will have choices to make, some obvious, others emergent through interactions with the characters and the other guests. There is no single ‘path’ or optimal way to enjoy the experience. The design, and more specifically the actors mean that the audience can focus on whichever story engages them, or in helping (or hindering) a particular character, or in some of the delightful puzzles at any given point, and change direction as they feel.

NP: What was the inspiration for your upcoming experience?

IC: All of us are fans of weird fiction and particularly the works of Lovecraft inspire us greatly as a touchstone for a lot of fiction. Likewise we enjoy the seamless weaving of imagined and real histories, and especially the rich world of folklore. Whilst we love this genre, we are well aware of the historical problems associated with the view of time and authors and wanted to make sure that we address these real problems through our use of the stories.

We took the idea that every story has a seed of truth and ran with it as an idea — what if the seed of truth grew differently, was hybridised, grown somewhere different or by a different person. The Key of Dreams allows us to play with that concept, what if the story starts the same, but different choices are made? How would that affect the ending? How would it grow in today’s world?

Our goal is to make people feel like they’re on a journey, something like a protagonist in a weird fiction story. It’s a well trodden path; There is a hint that something is off, some investigation confirms these suspicions, then things get strange, before it feels as if the world is falling apart around you. In the morning there is some clarity, regret and perhaps relief.

NP: What do you think fans of immersive will find most interesting about this latest experience?

IC: A unique part of the experience is that because of the length of the experience and the high actor to guest ratio the audience gets to build relationships with the characters in the show. They will see them in their home, sit and eat with them, watch how they interact with the other characters and guests. The actors can genuinely be affected by the guests, and have the autonomy to respond in a meaningful way.

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Another aspect that we think people will love is consequence. The choices that the audience make have a real impact on the way the show develops. For example, helping, hindering or even betraying the various characters you have built up a relationship with in small or large ways. With what we learned from our previous show, we have built the new experience in a way that allows guests of the experience to have real agency and to be able to identify the effect that their actions have had.

Additionally, we think that guests might be surprised. The stories we are using for our inspiration are fairly well known, but what we have done with them, how we have reshaped them, and updated them while staying true to the core narrative should bring some joy. We always aim for moments of delight, when things click into place, a puzzle is solved, narrative points connected or a moment when a the motivations behind an interaction with a character suddenly become clear.

NP: Once you started designing and testing what did you discover about this experience that was unexpected?

IC: A show like this is a big ask of everyone involved. Unlike a traditional show, there aren’t scripts written or learned (although there are key scenes and framing devices in the show). For any of the performance team there is a lot to learn. They need to know the stories — all of them; they need to know the mechanics involved, how they are intended to work and how a guest might interpret them differently. They need to know where the many (oh so many!) props should be at any time. They need to know their characters, how they develop, how the actions of the guests should, or could affect them and how the guests actions with other characters can change the relationships between the characters.

As you can guess, rehearsing an experience like this is a challenge — as you don’t have the biggest factor of the guest interactions to play back against. As designers and writers, we need to provide the guidance for this and stress test as much as possible. We also have to make sure we fully understand the reasons for everything. The actors however bring a wealth of experience, and understanding from working with us for the last two years on our previous show.

There are so many documents that the guests and even the actors will never see that underpin the workings of the experience, but the goal is always to make the audience feel like they’re in a real world, no matter how fantastical the elements might be. One of the simplest but most cherished compliments we had about our last show was simply “I felt that I was talking to another person, rather than a character.” For the time that people are with us, we want to fully immerse them in our world. It should feel real, if rather strange.

NP: What can fans who are coming to this, or thinking about coming to this, do to get into the mood of the experience?

IC: When writing this show we had to immerse ourselves in the lore quite deeply. For an insight into our world these are some suggestions

The Yellow Wallpaper — Charlotte Perkins Gilman,
The Spider’s Thread — Ryunosuke Akutagawa
The Outsider — H.P. Lovecraft
The White People — Arthur Machen
The Haunter of the Dark — H.P. Lovecraft

We love horror podcasts. The BBC’s The Lovecraft Investigations was a good touchpoint for the modernising of old stories, whilst White Vault and The Magnus Archives are indirect inspirations.

The Wicker Man (1973) has been a touchstone for some of the ideas for the characters, that sense of isolation and admiration of tradition. Small villages that seem quaint until you look too deeply below the surface.

The house feels slightly out of step with the world. Old traditions are observed and some of the characters might be described as eccentric and as if they might have stepped out of a bygone era. We have found that many of our previous guests have enjoyed an excuse to dress up and while we don’t require it, the 1920s country residence dress code is very appropriate. This pinterest board gives some insight into our thoughts.

Discover the latest immersive events, festivals, workshops, and more at our new site EVERYTHING IMMERSIVE, home of NoPro’s show listings.

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