Immersive Review Rundown: Of Uncanny Things & Unforgettable Experiences
Two from Vancouver’s PuSh Festival, the Uncanny Things Trilogy in London, and a drag murder mystery. (FOUR REVIEWS)
Is it four reviews or six? Or maybe it’s five. Math is odd when you’re dealing with the fae, but I wouldn’t know anything about that. No. No. Impossible.
Katrina’s reviews from the PuSh Festival paint the picture of two really stellar pieces, both of which use audio and somatic cues to paint a full experiential picture. Here’s hoping that SWIM and Thirst Trap get some serious tours rolling.
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Murder Is A Drag: Rhinestones Are Forever — Vancouver Mysteries Vancouver; $110 CA; Ongoing
Both murder mysteries and drag performances are built on camp, spectacle, and theatrical flair, so it’s no surprise that Vancouver Mystery’s Murder Is Drag blends the two for a riotously fun afternoon of crime-solving and cabaret. Rhinestones Are Forever, the third installment in the series, debuted as part of the Dine Out Vancouver Festival, inviting audiences to the wedding of Detective Dragatha Christie’s eldest son and his blushing bride, Miss Nancy Drew. But before the ceremony can begin, tragedy strikes — Dragatha’s great aunt is found dead, and of course, in true murder mystery fashion, all is not as it seems.
The show unfolds in three acts: the murder, the investigation, and the grand reveal. Between the first two acts, guests are presented with evidence to sift through, allowing them to piece together the crime scene and contribute findings to the detective’s case. The puzzle elements are simple but engaging, ensuring the experience is still accessible to the less puzzle-inclined.
The real stars of the night though are the cast themselves. The drag queens and kings of Rhinestones Are Forever showcase razor-sharp comedic timing, interacting with the audience in deliciously sassy exchanges. Each performer gets a signature lip-sync number tied to their role in the story, leading to some hilariously on-theme moments (a jealous lover bursting into Avril Lavigne’s Girlfriend was a particular standout). A few additional roles, the best man, the priest, and the dearly departed great aunt, are filled by audience members, who gleefully performed each role.
With its mix of campy mystery, lively drag performances, and audience interaction, Rhinestones Are Forever delivers an entertaining evening of immersive theatre in the Vancouver scene.
— Katrina Lat, Toronto Curator
SWIM — Theatre Conspiracy/Pandemic Theatre
Vancouver; $39; PuSh Festival 2025; run concluded
The 8-kilometer stretch of water separating Güzelçamli, Turkey from the Greek island of Samos is a perilous passage, one that thousands of refugees attempt to swim each year in pursuit of asylum in Europe. Swim plunges its audience into the heart of this journey, offering a visceral and moving account of one such crossing.
Before entering the space, we are lined up and outfitted with headphones, a simple flashlight, and a haptic vest — a piece of technology that will prove essential in bridging the gap between observer and participant. Inside, we take our seats in a dimly lit room, separated by a thin line of sand. The lighting is sparse, sometimes flickering, but Swim is not about what you see, it’s about what you hear and feel.
Through binaural audio, we experience the firsthand story of a man attempting the crossing, his hopes and fears rippling through the soundscape. The haptic vest hums and jolts in response to his emotions and the elements: the trepidation of walking along the shore, the weight of difficult decisions, the chaos of the sea. The piece intersperses these moments of terror with flashbacks to a life once filled with love, birthdays, and normalcy — a stark contrast that humanizes the experience beyond statistics and headlines.
Unlike other immersive works I’ve experienced where technology might feel like a gimmick, Swim employs it with profound intentionality. As the waves rise, our vests mimic the sensation of being thrown about in the water. The theater lights flicker like moonlight on the waves, shifting as we “submerge” and “resurface”. At certain points in the piece, I find myself filled with genuine grief and terror, then realize I need to remind myself to breathe.
By the end, the room sits in a heavy hush. Some clap quietly, but many — myself included — are too overwhelmed to respond in the traditional manner. Swim is a profoundly moving experience, and an extraordinary example of how technology can be used to create moving, narrative-first, immersive storytelling.
— Katrina Lat, Toronto Curator
Thirst Trap — Ray Young
Vancouver; $39; PuSh Festival 2025; run concluded
The stage is set… or rather, the bathtub. Thirst Trap, a sound-based immersive experience by UK artist Ray Young, invites participants to prepare a ritual bath at home following precise instructions: an hour of uninterrupted time, a bathtub, and 25cm deep water between 34°C-40°C
(measured with an included stone and string that changes color at the correct temperature). The experience unfolds through an audio recording, transforming the act of bathing into a space for meditation, reflection, and ultimately, confrontation.
At first, Thirst Trap soothes. Gentle sounds fill the room, and Young’s calming voice guides me into a deep state of relaxation. But just as I surrender to the warmth of the water, the tone shifts. The piece moves from personal to speculative, asking us to imagine a future where water is no longer a casual luxury but a scarce and strictly rationed resource. The once-tranquil act of submersion becomes a stark contrast to the world Young describes — a world where access to clean water is severely limited, and indulgences like long baths are unthinkable.
The feeling shifts from calm to guilt, the warmth of the water now carrying an uneasy weight. The final act of the experience delivers the most visceral impact: we are instructed to drop the enclosed bathbomb into the water, causing the surface to bloom into a deep, superficial blue. However, I quickly realize that the bathbomb has been coated in activated charcoal, and the dark residue quickly clings to my skin and stains the tub, leaving a trace of the experience long after the water drains. It’s an undeniable metaphor — pleasure always has an externality, a cost left for someone else to bear.
By the end, I find myself scrubbing my grandmother’s bathtub, an unexpected epilogue that drives the message home. Thirst Trap is, as its name suggests, a lure — drawing participants into a space of comfort, only to confront them with a deeper, inescapable truth.
— Katrina Lat, Toronto Curator
The Uncanny Things Trilogy- Virtually Opera
From £10, London; Run Concluded
TRILOGY IN A DAY
Experiencing the Trilogy in a Day I really get to know some Uncanny Things as the complete saga unfolds.
Starting with the invitation to Come Bargain With Uncanny Things we, as Bargainers, are presented with requests from the people of Southwark. Should we help the woman terrified of gnawed bones outside her home or the artist who paints horrors from the sea?
After lunch it is time to Come Worship Our Uncanny King. “A lovely King, a wise King”. This show very much leans into the Fae nature of the work. We must charm the King, offering them gifts and parades.
Post dinner, should we Come Murder An Uncanny Thing? A rogue group has seized an Uncanny Thing and we can decide whether we demand all the Thing’s power, and thus kill it, or let the beast go. Or take a third option, which I convince my fellow audience members to enact.
This was a full day of fun and magic. Credit to the cast for keeping the energy high with many singing throughout. The variety between and within the three pieces kept the shows fresh. There are plenty of chances to interact (and you do not have to sing).
— Thomas Jancis, London Correspondent
COME WORSHIP OUR UNCANNY KING
On the other hand, say you only have a single journey into the uncanny? Attending only Come Worship Our Uncanny King, I got to experience the pure idea of an uncanny comedy–which I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from. Although it’s more “comedy” in the classical sense (it doesn’t end with a wedding per se, but it ends cheerfully), it is also, in parts, extremely funny.
One of the most compelling features of the Uncanny trilogy is the element of audience choice, and in Come Worship, those choices were less moral than artistic. We are there as human diplomats paying tribute to a monarch, and what form that tribute takes is largely up to us. The show at times twitches the curtain between the fantastical and the modern, especially when tributes pay reference to such mundane things as job applications or canned spaghetti, and the King turns them fantastical.
The musical elements bring the show to life, and add to the sense that communication works differently here–although one actor, operating in complete silence, also plays an integral role. This is a strange new world, but it’s one that made me smile.
–Ellery Weil, London Correspondent
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