"Hello, Node 27. Welcome to The Forest."
Audience members swap their name for a number as they enter the humid tunnels beneath Waterloo station for Runhoratio’s latest immersive theatre experience X-NN Systems: The Forest.
Once inside, we were told that we had signed up to be part of X-NN Systems -- a faceless corporation that harvests spare brain capacity to use for data analysis. In order to maintain our mental efficiency during our stint with the organisation we would have to undergo a series of psychological and physical assessments in The Forest, their testing facility.
Our groups of eight were herded from one task to the next by dungaree-clad X-NN guides, each one displaying all the robotic personality of a flesh and blood Siri. They cast a judgemental eye over us as we performed a variety of surreal challenges. "You’ll never be responsible enough to be a Node Leader," I was told as I failed to impress at one particular task.
It struck a nerve.
Director Sofi Lee-Henson tells WIRED that The Forest draws on aspects of psychiatric healthcare. The aim is to create an environment where an audience is subjected to intense scrutiny. "I was using existing therapies," she said, "[and] you’re constantly being judged with these things, on all facets of your persona."
With the clipboards and red pens at the ready, X-NN guides remain tight-lipped about what criteria on which the subjects are judged. The audience are turned into performers -- at one point I danced the Macarena for my group's guide -- desperately eager to please without ever knowing quite for what they’re aiming.
The Forest drives home themes of subservience and cultish devotion with just enough humour to keep it from being overwhelmingly oppressive. This is theatre that rewards participation, and it might alienate those who prefer their drama with fourth wall intact. The manner in which the audience -- your fellow X-NN Nodes -- chose to take part will shape your unique experience of the play.
Lee-Henson's previous play, Dr Leon simulated the experience of brain surgery, all the way from the operation to post-therapy doctor’s appointments. In The Forest Lee-Henson returns to science fiction to explore ideas around self-improvement and the pursuit of perfection. But despite the disorientating sound and visuals, The Forest is a strangely comforting place. "You are just a small cog in a vast machine," the CEO of X-NN Systems tells us at the beginning of the experience. After an hour of being told exactly where to go and what to do, I began to think that being a cog might really be my calling in life.
The prospect of unstructured reality suddenly seemed very daunting. Who is there to guide me? How would I know I was doing the right thing? "We make being in a simulated reality so addictive," Henson-Lee said, "that it’s indistinguishable from reality."
XNN Systems: The Forest is showing until 6th March 2016 at VAULT Festival, Waterloo.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
