Pioneering immersive theatre company Punchdrunk has unveiled its latest large-scale production, Lander 23 – A Live Action Video Game, opening in London later this year.
Lander 23 is playing at Punchdrunk’s One Cartridge Place, Woolwich with previews from 17 September 2025. Previews will be reduced-price as the team test and reiterate with live players, with standard pricing from 7 October 2025.
About Lander 23
Blurring the boundaries between theatre, gaming, and live action role-play, Lander 23 casts audiences as the crew of a daring rescue and resource mission to a hostile, uncharted planet. The original Lander 23 team vanished without a trace while harvesting a powerful new energy source. Now, the mission is yours to finish – if you can survive it.
The experience divides players into two interdependent squads: Command (“Drivers”), who strategise and guide from the ship, and Ground Team (“Fields”), who explore the alien landscape wearing audio headsets. Communication is the only lifeline as threats close in and time runs out.
Opening at One Cartridge Place, Woolwich – Punchdrunk’s venue on the banks of the Thames – the production combines physical theatre, team strategy, and pulse-pounding sci-fi thrills.
The creative team for Lander 23 are: Conceived, Directed & Designed by Felix Barrett; Co-Directors Kath Duggan and Joel Scott; Designers Livi Vaughan and Beatrice Minns; Lighting Designers Felix Barrett and Sarah Readman; Sound Designer Gareth Fry; Visual Designer (Video) Bruno Cordeiro; and Game System Creator Meaning Machine.
A bold new show for Punchdrunk
Lander 23 marks a bold step even for Punchdrunk, whose landmark productions include Sleep No More and The Burnt City. While Sleep No More transported audiences into a dreamlike reimagining of Macbeth, and The Burnt City built a neon-lit dystopian Troy in abandoned Arsenal warehouses, Lander 23 promises shared survival, real-time gameplay, and an entirely new kind of immersive experience.
Last year, Punchdrunk presented Viola’s Room, a small-scale, linear immersive experience that signalled a new, intimate direction for the company. Written by Booker Prize-shortlisted author Daisy Johnson and narrated by Helena Bonham Carter, the gothic mystery reimagined Barry Pain’s The Moon-Slave. Barefoot and wearing headphones, small groups navigated a maze-like installation guided by an unseen narrator, distilling two decades of Punchdrunk’s practice into a sensory, audio-driven adventure.
Earlier this year, Punchdrunk’s dedicated young-audience arm, Punchdrunk Enrichment, announced Fireside Tales. Written and directed by Steve McCourt (Tall Stories, Blind Summit), the interactive festive adventure runs from 6 December 2025 to 4 January 2026 at Punchdrunk Enrichment Stores in Wembley Park. Designed for children aged 7–11 and their grown-ups, the production invites audiences to rekindle the ancient tradition of storytelling around the fire.
“Our ambition for Lander 23 – create the ultimate antidote to screens”
Felix Barrett, Artistic Director of Punchdrunk said in a statement: “To make a video game live – and specifically a AAA adventure game – is the holy grail for me; to take the complete submersion in a world and the endless choice of where you go, who you talk to, how you choose to play the game, and to make that real. The future is inevitably tech driven – how can we, as a company that is built on the magic of live experiences, create something that is not just as compelling as an evening on Fortnite or Zelda, but that elevates that experience to something more engrossing. Something which fires up both hemispheres of the brain, removes the passivity of sitting in a chair, and has a far longer-lasting impact. That’s our ambition for Lander 23 – create the ultimate antidote to screens: instead of sitting on the sofa in front of your TV, what would happen if you threw away your controller, stepped inside the game and became your own avatar – relying on your ingenuity, dexterity and courage to survive. In real time. In real life.”
Booking tickets to Lander 23
Lander 23 is running at Punchdrunk’s One Cartridge Place, Woolwich from 17 September 2025.
Tickets for Lander 23 – A Live Action Video Game are on sale at 12 noon
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