Punchdrunk The Drowned Man

Punchdrunk - The Drowned Man - Paddington- June 2013

The call from JK came at 7pm-ish.
"Ive got you a ticket , get down asap to Paddington , theres plenty of time, you dont need to come in before 9pm-ish".
Your Art Power critic donned the full biking leathers needed to hurtle from SE39 to W11 in under an hour. Easy...course finding Temple Studios wasnt so easy...I found the correct road but no sign of theatricals so i dropped the Harley Scooter on its front axle and took Shanks Pony...Not five yards had I gone when the pounding and then strange atmospherics could be heard, from behind a red door...no shrinking violet, in I plunged...into a dark space without end...following someone up ahead i was soon lost in the labyrinth of rooms, cars, film studios, dressing rooms, caravans, mountains of sand, tables with berserk people doing the crazy dance....then I got the feeling I was being followed..a quick take two over my shoulder - five masked men are standing, staring at me...WTF is going on? I make a hasty exit, charging into the labyrinth again, a room where two people are repeatedly doing the same strange mental exercise, watched by the masked crowds, I watch too, no-one pays me any mind. On I went, finding a stairway, I go up.
The next floor is completely covered in sand, this is a huge warehouse space. Ghostly hums and chugging noises are heard in the distance, on i go, seeing a New York cop, I slip into the parking lot. I am getting the feeling I'm being watched again. Spotting a NYC yellow cab, I open the door and jump in, try the radio, no dice. Where is JK ? My mobile works thank god...
"Help! Im in a cab on the third floor and theres a crowd of masked men staring at me !"
"Oh for fucks sake, why didnt you get a mask ? Right I'm on way" she threatens.
 "Err, OK , oh, and hurry"
JK appears in 5 minutes and grabs me, gives me a severe dressing down in front of the mob. This play is meant to have no dialogue , the crowd are getting hostile.
"Look, take your mask off and we can become part of whatever is going on here " I offer hopefully. No joy.
"Dont be so fucking stupid" JK shoots me down. "Right come with me, we are getting you a mask"and she takes my hand like a naughty toddler. Turning to her friend from work, she starts to apologize profusely for my appaling behaviour.
"Im really sorry, Im afraid you cant take him anywhere, he's got showing off syndrome "...
"Hang on a sec" I launch my defence," its not the end of the world ,in fact its quite a laugh. This is an immersive experience, we can do what the fuck we want"...
"You may not talk, or remove your mask" she states. " I saw two people get thrown out of Faust just for signalling to each other!"
They sold their souls to the art devil no doubt !
This is a mysterious event. The mise en scene is superb, as is the music. The trouble with a play without dialogue, is it leaves you thinking there's got to be more to dance and mime than simulated intercourse and disappearing down holes.The story was utterly impossible to follow, leaving the audience to find out WTF is going on is a good idea but over optimistic of Punchdrunk. We really do need some guidance !  I did want to know what happened to the girl who was taken into a room, followed by a crowd of twenty beak masked desperados (the atmosphere does get increasingly frantic amongst the 'scared to be missing something' audience), who were then suddenly shut out by the man in charge. But did it matter ?
The finale made everything a bit clearer. The two dead people who had been lying on the floor were borne aloft. Much wailing and gnashing of teeth ensued, Ive no clue why. I was just glad to make it out of there in one piece.