Arts Centre Melbourne

Here's a guaranteed way to not cure your fear of flying: step inside a plane cabin recreated inside a 40-foot shipping container, don a pair of high quality binaural headphones and plunge headfirst into complete darkness. Flight – an immersive and truly terrifying Darkfield experience – returns to Melbourne by popular demand after a successful run in 2022. It takes you on a turbulance-filled journey through two worlds, two realities and two outcomes. Just know that there are many ways in which the plane lands safely – but will that be your final destination? Flight will run for a three-month season at the Art Centre Melbourne forecourt from December 13. Tickets are on sale now via the website. This review was originally written in 2022, when Flight was last in Melbourne – please be aware that some elements may have changed. You know the drill: check your boarding pass, find your assigned seat, stow your baggage in the overhead bin and fasten your seatbelt. Make sure your tray table is in the upright position, and make sure your window blind is open for take-off. On a monitor in front of you, a flight attendant in a blue uniform details the safety features of this aircraft. She explains that you should take a minute to find your nearest exit, bearing in mind it might be behind you. As she adjusts her pink scarf, she... wait a minute, wasn't her uniform blue? The screen flickers and she's back to blue, and you wonder if you imagined the pink. And then the lights go out. ...

Ever wanted to participate in a séance? You can now do so in this performance which takes place in total darkness. Sounds spooky, right? You'll need to proceed with an open mind... Séance is a 20-minute sonic experience where your senses become vulnerable to persuasion. It explores the psychology of a group of people who have been bombarded with suggestible material, and asks that they believe in what might be conjured up into the room with them. Suddenly, the line between what is real and what is imagined becomes blurred. Séance will run for a three-month season at the Art Centre Melbourne forecourt from December 13. Tickets are on sale now via the website. This review was originally written in 2022, when Flight was last in Melbourne – please be aware that some elements may have changed. "It's only 20 minutes," I think to myself. "How scary could it get for 20 minutes?"  I'm sitting in a pitch-black shipping container with my hands on a table in front of me and noise-cancelling headphones over my ears. The headphones are the only sensory input I have – for now, at least. And what they're telling me is pretty damn scary. Séance is an immersive sound experience created by Brits Glen Neath and David Rosenberg, in collaboration with Melbourne team Realscape Productions. It relies on psychology and our inclination towards superstition to alter guests’ perception of reality, all while never leaving the shipping container.  But boy howdy, it sure feels like you are in a real...