Due to popular demand after its initial return in August, CROOKS 1926 – the first immersive experience to re-open in London after lockdown, where the audience has complete autonomy to shape their own adventure – will now extend into 2021.
In line with the closure of all venues and entertainment spaces due to enhanced government restrictions, CROOKS 1926 was forced to halt performances throughout November. The producers are planning to reopen on Thursday 10 December with twice weekly shows until 19 December, and then again from 15 January 2021 through February, and then returning to a full Wednesday to Sunday performance schedule from 3 March onwards. Performances are now on sale via https://www.colabtheatre.co.uk/crooks-2
Plunge deep into the cockney criminal underworld of Elephant and Castle as you are immersed in one family’s brutal battle for supremacy. Nothing is certain, violence is rampant, and bargains are made to be broken. Fix a horse-race, hire thugs and plan the grand territorial takeover of London. But keep an open ear and a sharp mind for not all is as it seems… Become the Blinder as you rub shoulders with the likes of Alfie White and The Cortesi Brothers. Dress to impress in your best 1920’s gear. The gritty world of the 1920’s has never been closer.
With strict social distancing guidelines implemented throughout, the COLAB Tavern in SE1 is fully Covid-secure, with a robust cleaning regime in place during and between shows. Audience members are temperature checked on arrival, and masks are worn throughout the performance. Audience members book tickets and attend in household pods of 2,4 or 6 people. These pods solve riddles, play games, and negotiate with each other, and are fully socially distanced from other pods.
Starring Angus Woodward as ‘Wag MacDonald’, Simon Pothecary as ‘Wal MacDonald’, Holli Dillon as ‘Alice Diamond’ and Josh Harvey as ‘Sabini’, CROOKS 1926 is directed by Ben Chamberlain, produced by Larissa Nugroho and designed by Lucy Ashmore.
Boasting over ten years of experience, the veteran immersive theatre company COLAB Theatre, lead by Artistic Director Bertie Watkins, debuted CROOKS 1926 at their brand new, permanently dedicated space in South London in January 2020. Forced to close in March due to the pandemic, the team re-mounted the show in August and found there was still great demand for theatrical immersive entertainment that could be done in a Covid-secure way.
Bertie Watkins said, “As with all organisations in the arts industry, we were hit hard at COLAB, It has been a long, 6 month process and getting COLAB Tavern back on its feet again made us think creatively and flexibly about how CROOKS 1926 would look. The key was reversing the audience/actor movement. Originally the actors stayed in their rooms and the audience came to them, now the audience stay fixed in bubbles and the actors move rooms. Immersive we found, lends itself to the kind of distancing that is required for COVID measures. Our audience is already in non-traditional seating which means capacity reduction was less than those in proscenium seating. The various games and activities lend themselves to bubbles working together whilst still using the actors to bridge the gap of communication between socially distanced groups. Live theatre has undoubtedly struggled and will continue to struggle whilst we are under COVID measures, but as a number of immersive theatre productions are proving; it is our kind of work that adapts best to the new constraints that have been put on us.”
