Viper Squad (Review)
Image from Schematic Theatre
Explosions! Car chases! Ill-advised surgery! And, a guy who really really really loves guns. It would take the most extreme naysayer not to have a great time.
There’s about 20 people gathered round a bomb and somehow I’ve found myself with instructions. I’m shouting with abandon “not the RED wire, the GREEN one, THE GREEN ONE!” at a woman I do not know. My friend, who has never been to immersive theatre before, is looking on, presumably baffled and wondering what on earth I have brought him to.
This is VIPER SQUAD, an immersive-theatre action adventure from Schematic Theatre that pays loving homage to the bombast and bluster of 80s action classics. Now IRL after a successful Zoom-sperience version in lockdown.
We are the SQUAD’s latest recruits and have to work together to stop a group of criminals from stealing millions. Think Die Hard, The A-Team, and Beverly Hills Cop, with a good dose of the campiness of Baywatch.
The action is mixed between briefings and events with the whole group and splitting into smaller teams in weapons, intelligence and interrogation. All the while you, the audience, are making decisions that move the plot forward and getting into thematic shenanigans - explosions, car chases, ill-advised surgery, a guy who really really really loves guns and decorating with tiiiny little cocktail umbrellas.
The lighthearted-ness of the world you are thrust into is balanced with pacey, compelling storytelling which really puts the audience at the centre of the action. There’s a lot of role playing and thinking on your feet. Wallflowers beware; it’s not really a spectator sport. However, the cast has a real knack for bringing you in on the jokes, building us up as a team and making you buy into the ever increasing stakes (hence feeling comfortable enough to shout at the poor woman I had just met). Particular shout out for The Chief (Shea Wojtus) who was dignified, warm and hilarious. We genuinely wanted to make her proud from the moment she recruited us.
If there was one… observation: We didn't really realise the intricacy of the production until we finished it. It was only afterwards we learned that there was in fact a very sophisticated decision tree that was working behind the scenes with lots of different endings and outcomes depending on these decisions that you were taking as a group or individually.
Very interesting, but weren’t really given an opportunity to appreciate the full gravity of those consequences. I think we would have loved to understand what might have happened if we made different decisions - were some better than others? Could we be proud of how we did?
I’m a bit of a Hermione. I love a scorecard. I’m sure not everyone has the need to know they did well and get a gold star, but I'm just saying. My friend has a much healthier relationship with achievement and would be happy enough to just understand when the key decisions were made.
Regardless, it’s brilliant. I’m eternally grateful because my friend came away from his first immersive show on a total high. I can’t think of a better introduction to the immersive theatre genre. If you’re looking for something a bit different for a big group, say at work or for a stag/hen do, I would wholeheartedly recommend it - it would take the most extreme naysayer not to have a great time.
Viper Squad is on now at the COLAB Tavern. Tickets are £30-£35 and can be booked here
