Darkfield Is Bringing All Four of Its Unsettling and Immersive Shipping Container Installations to Sydney
The Harbour City is getting its first taste of eerie new shows 'Eulogy' and 'Coma', plus return visits from favourites 'Séance' and 'Flight'.
October isn't the only spooky month in Sydney in 2023. When late November hits, things will be getting eerie at Barangaroo's Harbour Park to end this year and start 2024. Why? How? What? The answer to those questions comes via the masters of immersive thrills behind Darkfield, who are back to give Sydney some more IRL spine tingles.
During the pandemic's early days, Realscape Productions had to hit pause on touring its smash-hit series of eerie shipping container installations, including Séance and Flight, pivoting to at-home experiences instead. Darkfield brought those two favourites back to the Harbour City in autumn this year, but it doesn't done with Sydney yet for 2023. So, it's returning for a two-month season with those returning favourites, plus two unnerving new shows.
The series will make its comeback from Thursday, November 23, 2023–Sunday, January 21, 2024, delivering four different unsettling productions — each taking place in blacked-out shipping containers and promising to totally mess with your sense of reality.
Making its local debut is the oh-so-creepy-sounding Eulogy. This one sees audience members transported through a dark, labyrinthine hotel under the guidance of a chaperone. From there, 360-degree sound and speech-recognition technology are used to lend a disquieting dreamlike vibe. Also, it's recommended that you stick to the correct path, lest you befall some terrible fate at the end of your journey.
Another Darkfield creation hitting Sydney for the very first time is Coma, which unfolds as you lie in a bunk bed and tumble into a dream state along with your fellow supine participants. The total darkness aims to impart a spooky sense of solitude, leaving you to be properly engulfed by the show's multi-sensory elements.
Having earned a cult following on previous visits here and overseas, sellout shows Séance and Flight will also be getting a run throughout Darkfield's next visit. The former again plays on the concept of sensory deprivation, thrusting audiences on a journey into the supernatural realm as they join a medium in trying to contact the spirit world.
As the name suggests, Flight takes place on board an imagined plane, sending passengers tripping through dual worlds as they're forced to ponder the many possible outcomes if the cabin suddenly happened to lose pressure. This is a nerve-jangler, for sure, even for those who aren't afraid of flying.
The four shows will each run multiple sessions throughout Darkfield's latest Sydney stint, with prices for each ranging from $22–30.
'Eulogy', 'Coma', 'Séance' and 'Flight' will appear at Barangaroo's Harbour Park, with various sessions running from Thursday, November 23, 2023–Sunday, January 21, 2024. Tickets are available now via the website.
Images: Mihaela Bodlovic, Katie Edwards and Alex Purcell.