The Village
2023The Village is a multi-location immersive theatre piece devised and staged by Persona Collective inside Soho + Chinatown. This project celebrates the diversity & tolerance of Soho’s local community & indie businesses with a narrative based on real voices and in real unique locations in the local area.
The audience will find themselves stepping into an intimate journey across multiple secret locations throughout Soho + Chinatown; weaving through hidden passageways. They will be immersed in a multi-sensory experience, somewhere between fiction and reality. Each group of audience will be following one character’s story, whilst witnessing threads of multiple narratives throughout their journey. Audience members usually describe the experience as “being immersed inside a film” or as “hyper-real, it was never clear whether something was reality or an artistic construct”.
During the past few months we have been working closely with the LGBTQ+ communities and Soho’s local businesses & residents. Together we have co-created a multi-location immersive theatre and built a set/installation in a gallery, all within Soho. At the end of production, we will make a feature film of the final performance.
Artistic Director - Rocio Ayllon
Poster Design + Photography - Emily George
Choreographer - Ting-Ning Wen
Creative Producer - Abbie Adams
Lighting Design - Satu Streatfield
Producer, props + costume - Yagoda Sovinska
Prop Design - Emma LD
Set Design - Jack Wates
Cosume Design - Jakub Xnowacki
Poster Design + Photography - Emily George
Choreographer - Ting-Ning Wen
Creative Producer - Abbie Adams
Lighting Design - Satu Streatfield
Producer, props + costume - Yagoda Sovinska
Prop Design - Emma LD
Set Design - Jack Wates
Cosume Design - Jakub Xnowacki
Route 0.1 - Fallen
After dark in Soho, nothing is as it seems. Tying someone up can set them free. Abducting someone can save their life. When we drown, we are born again. Three strangers, unaware of their connection, begin an odyssey that will bring them together and force them apart, whilst invisible powers conspire to seal their fate. Until then, they will dance, love and move as if it is their first and final day on Earth
Route 0.2 - Wheel of Fortune
Lives beyond the border are not always choices. For some, it represents more boundaries. Within this strange space, they are forced to confront distorted memories, disconnected identities, and disrupted realities.The wheel of fortune keeps spinning and knows no end. Let us witness the journey of these people as they adapt, transform, and repeat their daily lives in Chinatown. Without them consciously knowing, their choices are slowly steering them toward an irrevocable destiny.
Route 0.3 - Red Lights
Exhilarating, naughty, smelly, noisy. Red lights are everywhere. This is a haunting tale of revenge, violence, desire, impossible love, loss and redemption set against the backdrop of late 70’s early 80’s through the streets of Soho. These people have dreams. These people want to escape reality. These people are here to hide, find warmth, stay alive or be part of a family. Their bodies are exulting to conjure death. Life is a party. Life is a dance between Good and Evil, and danger is lurking at every corner.
