Historical entities have been sighted in the old village of Lambeth. Are they ghosts? Visions? Or intruders through a crack in time? Join your guides and explore the backwaters and byways that slowly spread over the mysterious marshes of Lambeth.
Most walking tours have a guide drag you around the well-known tourist hot-spots while they read out a bit from Wikipedia. Minimum Labyrinth’s tour is different. We were told to find the meeting spot by looking for a mysterious message chalked somewhere on Westminster Bridge.
As the bells from Big Ben faded - ghosts appeared!
We were whisked away onto a tour which was part history lesson, part ghost story, and part science-fiction extravaganza. As we wandered through the streets, various "baddies" appeared out of nowhere. Ghosts came to chat with us and then promptly vanished. Music played causing onlookers to pause their hurried strolling. It was somewhere between immersive theatre and immersed theatre.
The walk was well paced. The three acts each consisted of 50 minutes of strolling then 30 minutes in a pub. Perfect for a loo-break and refreshments. The cast didn't stay in character during the pub - which was a relief for them, and meant we could chat about what we thought of the event.
It took us through some parts of London I was vaguely familiar with - and some which were completely new. It is brilliant having someone explain exactly why that piece of art is where it is, or who commissioned that church, and point out that exquisite detail you might have missed.
Without wishing to spoil anyone's fun, the sci-fi element was the weakest part of the adventure. It paid "loving homage" to an abandoned and somewhat forgotten TV series. I felt that the story would have been much stronger without tying it in to a larger universe. No one under 50 recognised the characters so I think that aspect fell a little flat.
I also felt that there wasn't quite enough to do during the walk. There were some neat snippets of information but there were long stretches of walking down streets without much going on. Given the slightly spooky and sci-fi nature of the story, I would have expected the audience to have been given little tasks or asked to keep a lookout for ghosts.
That said, the tour took us round some stunning and unexpected spots. The ghostly goings-on were suitably mysterious and the cast kept us all safe and entertained. We had fun exploring little alleyways and art displays which were completely unknown to us.
The team at Minimum Labyrinth do a variety of weird tours and events. Worth checking out if you want something entertaining and unusual.
