PROMMERSIVE IN BRIGHTON - Part 2

At dusk I received a text message from the Blast Theory/Hydrocracker axis with the location. Then on arrival, a second text suggesting I look around for fellow audience members - and yes, there were 9 of us in total - clutching fully charged phones and smiling nervously at each other.

Obeying another text we strode down the road to bang on the door of a boarded up shop and meet our 'handler' who would be 'running us'. This was good. I was convinced - well I wanted to support the endeavour because the acting was solid and the environment was credible and we were offered a mug of tea and I'm waiting for the last episode of Undercover to air on TV and this was a bit like being in it.

The briefing made it more intimidating - then off on our assignment. With our back story intact and working in teams of three we were off to infiltrate a right wing meeting at a disused pub in the back streets of Brighton.

After drinks, and nervous small talk I finally engaged with our 'POI' (I was too polite to ask at the briefing but assume it means 'person of interest'). And yes I got some 'dirt', not a lot, but enough to feel I'd delivered, and then we received the text - 'get out - it's going off' and were met in the street to be debriefed. This was the only disappointing bit for me - I wanted to go back to the room to find out more about what others had found out - I wanted my info put on their pin board with the mug shots.

At our second, post show, de-brief - chatting to the creative team later, we learnt the size of the project - a cast of over 30, some of whom were local amateurs. But it needed that - the pub wasn't heaving but there were enough drinkers to legitimise the alpha male brushing me out of the way as he passed.

The piece had been made with care, the improvisation/calculation had heft and the over-hanging sense of urgency, edginess and political extremism was on the money. And I got a lot of eye-contact from actors who were in the zone. Craft.

So after performance on a beach then a back street pub, what next ?