Review: THE KEY OF DREAMS, Treowen

With tickets costing £400 each and a storyline stretching over 24 hours, is Lemon Difficult’s The Key Of Dreams the ultimate in immersive theatre? 

An eldritch adventure set in the middle of the Welsh countryside, guests are invited to investigate mysterious goings-on at the Treowen country house. The affable Wyn Haffenden (Rik Sowden), the recent owner of this 17th-century manor, has been having some strange dreams and he is certain that they are not down to the local cheeses.

He has called in Randolph Carter (Dan Osbaldeston), an alumnus of Miskatonic University, to find out what is going on. Carter, in turn, has asked us, the Friends of Miskatonic University, to assist alongside his adjunct Dee (Emily Carding), a historiographer with an interest in the occult. Rounding off the core quartet is the house’s librarian (Maxine Dubois) who goes by the not-spooky-at-all-no-sirree moniker of The Collector. Minor characters like the housekeeper Sophie Hartley (Marianne Wilberforce) have their own part to play in unravelling the building's secrets.  

Initial observations suggest a number of different explanations for Wyn’s nocturnal nightmares, not least ghosts, demons or creatures from another dimension. Even if the house isn’t haunted, its inhabitants certainly appear to be: as well as Haffenden’s troubling bedtime visions, Carter is being sent strange photos by someone unknown and Dee’s motives are (as we slowly find out) driven by sorrow, regret and deep loss. Each has their own secrets and their own role to play in the developing drama.

And there’s more. Details of secret societies with their own competing agendas soon emerge and we are offered the chance to join; eager beavers can carry out tasks to rise through their ranks and gain inside knowledge. A telegram system connects us with the Miskatonic University allowing us to send written messages to our liaison there and receive answers as well as personalised instructions on what to do next. Strange wooden artefacts scattered inside and outside the house point to arcane knowledge. At certain points, we investigators are asked to make moral choices which can mean the difference between life or death. The deeper we delve, the choices become harder and their consequences carry forward into the next day.

All this might sound rather ominous and, to be fair, absolutely nothing that happens from the moment you step inside Treowen dispels that sense of creeping dread. Sure, the shuttling around from room to room as we hunt down clues can feel like you’re playing cricket but it never becomes as dull as actually watching cricket. This is no facile horror story with knife-wielding maniacs preparing to jump out from badly-lit corners, rather the tension is cranked up hour by hour. It is no surprise to hear that lead writer and story designer Laura Langrish leant heavily on the fantastical and mystical works of HP Lovecraft, MR James and similar writers that were popular around the turn of the twentieth century.

Underpinning the very satisfying story is a deep lore which seeps into each part of the house and bubbles under every conversation with the cast. As with many immersive experiences, there is far too much to see and do here in one visit and it feels at times that there are hidden depths to the plot and characters which barely see daylight. There are many, many Lovecraftian references (some obvious ones like Carter, others more subtle) but, while the American writer was a notorious racist, Langrish’s story has more than a few nods to modern diversity with a wide range of characters (at least one of whom is non-binary) and heated debates between them on issues like sexism and misogyny. Importantly, the choices made over the day have a real impact on the characters’ behaviour and outcomes.

One of this experience’s best features is how well it supports the neurodiverse and different styles of gameplay. Should we wish to, we can go into Line Of Duty mode and interrogate each of the characters to our heart’s content with each of them (within reason) happy to deal with our enquiries. Or we can get in touch with our inner Dora The Explorer and run around the outside of the estate checking out the verdant exterior (we recommend a trip to the pond at some point). Amateur Sherlocks can pull up a pew in the library and gather the evidence while wondering exactly what the ever-present Collector actually collects. Those looking for some quiet time can retreat to the snug with a hot beverage where wooden puzzles can be pieced together to reveal coded messages.

The ratio of four guests to each cast member means that there is plenty of opportunity to get to know the characters well. These are not roles for the faint of heart: rather than following a strict script, the actors work off a 40 page document and spreadsheet. Furthermore, they need to improvise at a moment’s notice; an unexpected fire alarm on press night would have derailed some productions while here the cast roll with it and, after we are all in a safe space, build the incident into an impromptu war of words. 

As Wyn Haffenden, the deeply dull ex-civil servant whose destiny lies at the heart of The Key Of Dreams, Sowden does well to unearth both the pathos and bathos in this character. Randolph Carter, the earnest investigator who seems keen to get to the bottom of what is happening in the house, is played by Osbaldeston with an exterior that is more bluff than gruff but changes in front of us as the hours pass and his own tragic backstory comes to light.

Lemon Difficult have done well to hire these two actors with buckets of professional knowledge and experience underlying their performance: both studied history at university and Osbaldeston has worked over many years with the Tower of London and other venues in creating visitor events while Sowden specialises in immersive and interactive historical experiences.

DuBois’s depiction of the mysterious Collector is both delicate and intricate in detail, her deft interpretation informed by a fascinatingly varied background going from appearing on TV in Coronation Street and Emmerdale to having been a principal dancer for Matthew Bourne’s ballet company. Debating with her is a delight, the answer to every question chucked her way throws up even more questions. Seeing her character change as the sun goes down and we are drawn deeper into the story is fascinating. (Matthew Wood takes on the mantle of The Collector for some shows.)

And then we come to Emily Carding as Dee. The Key Of Dreams’ is a masterpiece of dark, intense immersion and that is largely down to their powerful performance as its amoral centre. Whether you choose to become one of their followers or not, they cast a pitch black shadow over proceedings which sets the perfect tone for all that happens around her. They possess the kind of gravitational pull and evil charisma that Dracula would give his left fang for but whether they are the anti-hero or the villain of the piece is left entirely down to us to judge.

Alongside Langrish, the team behind this mammoth production include creative director Ivan Carić, dramaturg and director Leo Doulton and props designer Marianne Wilberforce. The latter and Kirsty Arch work tirelessly backstage to keep everything running smoothly while in the kitchen executive chef Dom Zeal and chef Declan Anstee provide the stream of enjoyable food coming over the day.

As a theatrical experience, this one is hard to beat and only gets better as the hours pass by. The writing pulls us in slowly but surely, with drops of new information and suggestions via telegram pushing the narrative forward. The world building is on another level, creating a literary landscape which just keeps expanding with every hour. A confident direction and superlative acting means that, even if the bright sparks in the group can see where the story is going, the able cast can keep us engaged and guessing all the way. There are no jump scares but enough rug pulls to keep us on our toes. 

And so back to the elephant in the room: is this all worth £400? That seems like a hefty amount on the face of it and there is no doubt that this is a luxury experience. It’s not the most expensive around - Belmond’s four-hour murder mystery aboard a moving train starts at £485 - unless you also book a room at Treowen (prices start from £350 per night). As well as a show which lasts a whole day, the catering includes a light lunch soon after arrival, a five-course dinner and breakfast the following day but the real add-on is the astounding attention to detail everywhere.

Punchdrunk is known for creating rooms packed with cute artefacts for the audience to pick up and peruse but the major difference at The Key Of Dreams is that the environment is rammed full of handmade items which directly relate to the overall story and are mini works of art in themselves; Wilberforce’s wooden pieces, especially her jigsaw puzzle and cryptexes, are a joy to play with and solving them adds real insights. An engaging cast that rolls with whatever is thrown at them is the best I’ve seen outside Phantom Peak and, in a short space of time, there’s a real sense of attachment formed to them and their various plights.

Moreover, this production is a hefty statement in a precarious year for immersive theatre, an area of the arts industry that relies less on government funding than more traditional theatre, dance or opera. A recent study from the Immersive Experience Network carried out in partnership with the University of Birmingham’s Dr Joanna Bucknall showed that more than 55% of work is being funded, at least somewhat, by the creative’s own personal investment and that 35% of new pieces of work are funded by the success of previous shows and experiences. 

Even established companies and longstanding projects are struggling. Punchdrunk made its name for creating immense productions like The Key Of Dreams but is well known to be in financial difficulties: even though The Burnt City helped the Woolwich-based company's income increase tenfold, the overall losses almost quadrupled to £4m and their auditors baldly stated that “a material uncertainty exists that may cast significant doubt on the group’s and parent company’s ability to exist as a going concern”. They are seem to be in a creative downturn with their latest show Viola’s Room being an artistically paltry offering compared to past efforts.

Secret Cinema has been relatively quiet since last Christmas with reports that plans for their new Camden Town venue and a show going by the codename of “Project Ruby” have both fallen through, at least for now. VR specialists Layered Reality’s proposed upgrade to their flagship War Of The Worlds has yet to materialise and their Elvis Evolution has been pushed back from this November to next Spring, Les Enfant Terribles’ Alice’s Adventures Underground has disappeared down a rabbit hole and there is very little hope that the long-awaited Arkham Asylum (a show which effectively killed off London's much-loved Vault Festival) will ever open.

In light of all that, The Key Of Dreams (alongside the superb Phantom Peak) is more than just an invigorating and thought-provoking example of this art form but a standard bearer for all immersive theatre on this scale. 

The Key Of Dreams is booking until February 2025.

Photo credits: Lemon Difficult

 

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