Audience members are asked to leave their bag and coats outside for Fire Burn, an immersive and interactive production.
This discomfort isn’t alleviated upon entering a very small room which accommodates a dozen. The audience is given headphones through which the monologue of the evening is broadcast.
Said to be at the time after Banquo’s death and something to do with his son, Fleance, none of this part of Macbeth seems to be in evidence, or even relevant to what goes on in this room. This, at best, is trying for a slice of life.
Over the headphones, we hear the story of our adventure which takes place in this campsite where we are bullied into collecting the twigs that are scattered over the ground, launder rags and other tasks without feeling part of the environment, part of the time-period.
The mistress of the evening, “a figure with old eyes”, pushes and pulls us to the different chores. The mystery through the monologue and set is supposed to make us feel that we are in the time and place of Macbeth. But we are left aliens in this world of story.
The script by Clancy Flynn over the headphones is interesting, even entertaining, but it's a story with no direction or focus. The sound design by Nicola Chang is spot-on. The performance by Jamie Burkett is flat and single-minded. There doesn’t seem to be a director of dramaturg anywhere. We are uncomfortable and unsure.
The event never rises above the trite, the precious, the pretentious. “We do not set out to make our audience members feel isolated or uncomfortable”, but that is exactly what they do.