Mark Lawson thought he knew all about the Gunpowder Plot - but London’s newest immersive theatre experience gives him a grim and gritty new perspective on being a recusant Catholic
Take a last glance at the Houses of Parliament, glimmeringly steam-cleaned (building if not necessarily occupants), head along the Thames and, through a portal that has long been closed, leave the London of summer 2022 to find yourself time-slipped to the city in 1605, as Guy Fawkes and his co-conspirators plot to blow up the seat of democracy now unseen above you.
For those visiting The Gunpowder Plot during last week’s rail strikes, there was the additional historical realism of it being easiest to reach the venue near the Tower of London by foot or boat, although, for true verisimilitude, Transport for London could usefully have restored horse-drawn carriages.
In fact, it would almost be worth crawling there, so lavish and inventive is this theatrical experience. It combines live action, film, virtual reality sequences through headsets, and interaction. Customers crack codes, may be invited to carry barrels of gunpowder and must make key moral decisions.
