Calling The Burnt City a theatre experience is really an undersell, it feels more like being inside a living dream. Wearing masks you descend into a fully fleshed-out world, where you can watch performers, explore entire cities and get lost in the adventure.
Read more

The show is rich and strange and drenched in Easter egg references to Greek mythology. I think it’s an extraordinarily beautifully wrought tribute to the savage, doomy mysticism of Greek mythology.
Read more

[It] has some good ideas, but lacks the surprise of their greatest work. For every ‘through the wardrobe’ moment of wonder I experienced there were times when I felt as if I was banging my head against a brick wall. The huge redeeming feature lay in the closing sections.
Read more

[It] is magnificently staged. Co-director Maxine Doyle's choreography is, throughout, utterly transporting. It was beautiful and memorable, but I longed for more to help me make sense of it.
Read more

I slightly resent the way immersive theatre relies on FOMO ... [but] I was overawed by the rich, vivid, momentous achievement of Barratt, Doyle and their cast and cohorts here. Simply astonishing.
Read more

The narrative is so flimsy and opaque that you could just as easily convince yourself that you’ve wandered into an avant-garde version of Cabaret. In the gloom, it’s hard to make out much detail. Thereafter you fumble your way through.
Read more

The set ... has an intimate filmic beauty. The Burnt City is an epic set-up without enough epic storytelling. So it is frustrating that they do not build more of it into the production. That said, those who are satisfied with spectacle above story will enjoy this meticulously crafted show.
Read more

It’s ... a constantly unsettling and enthralling experience that constantly challenges you to push the limits of your curiosity ... where Punchdrunk excels is in demanding as much of the audience members as of the performers.
Read more