Flinging circus into the 21st century: how the immersive Walk My World became a Budapest must-see
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<p>Hungarian director Bence Vága’s latest work showcases a modern style of acrobatics where performers soar above as the audience wanders from room to room</p><p>Imagine an empty 6,000 sq metre warehouse intricately designed to contain 40 smaller performing spaces on multiple levels. On one side lie the fallen remains of Troy; on the other, the city of Carthage. At its dark centre is a labyrinth, and above sits the decadent realm of the gods, who are all too keen to interact wi
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Flinging circus into the 21st century: how the immersive Walk My World became a Budapest must-see Hungarian director Bence Vága’s latest work showcases a modern style of acrobatics where performers soar above as the audience wanders from room to room I magine an empty 6,000 sq metre warehouse intricately designed to contain 40 smaller performing spaces on multiple levels. On one side lie the fallen remains of Troy; on the other, the city of Carthage. At its dark centre is a labyrinth, and above sits the decadent realm of the gods, who are all too keen to interact with the struggling humans below. The look is steampunk dystopia meets Berlin cabaret. Step through a black-curtained door and you are in a neon-lit bar where two men writhe, whirl and twist above you on ropes. Then climb a spiral staircase to a pool above which a goddess hangs by her hair and spins in a frenzy. Somewhere below a monster drags a woman into the labyrinth’s heart and the darkness devours her. Above, exiled Trojan soldiers pay homage to an imperious queen. One of her courtiers breaks away, chased by a soldier – with a few audience members in hot pursuit. There is no safety net, no stage: only viewer and performer. Now imagine all of this and more happening simultaneously, with multiple different performances taking place across a two-hour running time, and you come close to understanding Walk My World , which opened in Budapest last year. Part modern circus, part dance, part cabaret, it is immersive theatre on an epic scale – Europe’s largest. The story – or rather stories, for there are 26 performers, each with their own narrative – is based on the tale of Dido and Aeneas in book four of the Aeneid . But the gods, monsters, lovers and soldiers who appear elsewhere in Virgil’s epic are also woven into a looser narrative. Audiences wander the space, following characters or exploring the set at their own whim, often stumbling on performances by chance. Some scenes last over half an hour, others ...
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