You just can't see Punchdrunk's The Burnt City only once.

Punchdrunk at Cartridge Place | Seen February 11, 2023

Punchdrunk’s The Burnt City is unlike anything else I’ve ever seen, and my singular viewing experience will be completely unlike any other viewer experience because of the entirely individual viewing experience the company creates.

The Burnt City is Punchdrunk’s newest immersive theatre experience is an adaptation of The Illiad that spans three entire buildings, transformed into war-torn Troy in one half of the theatrical labyrinth, and the Greek camps in Mycenae in the other half. When you arrive at the venue, you are asked to lock your phone in a bag and are then given a playing card which indicates the group with whom you will enter the space. You then get to lounge in the bar, cooly decorated with neon lighting, and later in the afternoon, you can enjoy live music as you wait for your group to be called. When your card number and color is called (which for me was red five), you are led into a dark foyer space and asked to put on a greek funeral mask. From that moment on, you as an audience member are made completely anonymous and are not allowed to speak. The next two small spaces give some basic background about the sections of the Illiad addressed within the piece, and then you are set free to wander about which ever world you are sent into first: Greece or Troy.

I was sent first into Greece; it was an absolute marvel. When the door opened and I walked through, I felt genuinely transported to a different time. Before reaching the main warehouse space, I had to navigate my way through Greek army camps, pushing through draping canvas and stepping over cots and armor. Another incredibly exciting part of the experience is that you are invited to touch whatever is not behind glass. I ran my fingers through the Greek camp’s sand, rustled through their papers and sniffed the herbs in their small infirmary. Unlike in a typical museum or theatre experience, every single one of your senses is engaged.

Eventually, I found my way to the main performance space, a wide open warehouse-like space with a giant funeral pyre in the center, as well as a second story with a runaway down the middle, a shower on one end, and Iphigenia’s bedroom on the other. It is in some ways more comparable to a gallery experience than it is a theatrical production, as the audience is left to walk through the many rooms as they wish; you could choose to stay in one place for a very long time and watch as various actors pass through, or you could choose an actor to follow through the space, or both, or something entirely different. It truly is a completely individual experience.

There is almost no text throughout the entire experience as it is a physical theatre piece. The actors you stumble upon or follow interact with each other through movement, sometimes more highly-choreographed and abstract than others. In Greece, I followed Clytemnestra and then Iphigenia up through the sacrifice of Iphigenia, which was staged on top of the giant funeral pyre, with Clytemnestra watching in horror from the second story. As Iphigenia’s body slid down the pyre and her mother cried out from above, my eyes filled with tears and my jaw hung open. Even though I know the story very well and of course knew what was coming, it was utterly breathtaking.

After seeing the majority of the Mycenae plot, I made my way to “border crossing” and entered Troy. The two worlds are remarkably different. Greece, wide and open and feeling somehow royal, is starkly different to Troy, where the ceilings are low, the rooms are small, and the wreckage of war as left the space completely desolate. Almost like a theme park, Troy is completely built and developed town; you can enter the town bar, people’s houses, a hotel, and more. In Troy, I primarily followed Hecuba, though there were more actors and therefore more small side-plots to follow, so it felt a bit more like a labyrinth. It’s fascinating how different the two experiences are.

Eventually, everyone is lead back to Mycenae for a grand closing ceremony or “finale” of sorts- a remarkable final movement piece in which all of the actors from both worlds come together in a ritualistic type of dance as Clytemnestra stands among them, taking in the complete destruction of the world and her own life, and Hades and Persephone stand above them, turning a blind eye to the mortal struggle of war.

This is the hardest review I’ve written yet as the experience is nearly indescribable and is completely different for every person who attends. What I can say is: it is an incredible immersive experience that I will never forget, and I can’t recommend Punchdrunk enough.