The ceiling hung with hundreds of lanterns, warm mince pies on offer as you navigate to your seat, a mixture of top-hat-and-dress-coat-clad actors and musicians interspersed with Old Vic ushers on stage. Somehow, without a branch of holly or a twist of tinsel, it felt like Christmas already. Rhys Ifans played the first of the Old Vic Scrooges way back in 2017.
"I wonder what might have happened if we'd intervened," an audience member mused at the end of Shaking the Tree's latest production, Dancing on the Sabbath. At check-in, we'd received a note on letterhead from the Office of Royal Protection-its black logo depicting an eyeball wearing a crown-explaining we would surveil five misbehaving princesses through an invisibility cloak. As Crown-sanctioned Watchers for the night, the audience's task was to discover how the King's daughters escaped their locked chambers and to follow them wherever they went.
Taking over Borough Hall in Greenwich, Tokyo Nights will feature Sumo (involving four former professional wrestlers) sushi dining, and sake, in a space designed to evoke the streets of Tokyo. The Dohyō (the ring) will be at the heart of the action, with different dining options available, from a premium ring-side menu to more relaxed balcony seating. The team behind Tokyo Nights has worked on events including Grand Expedition, Chambers of Flavour and Secret Cinema, and includes Tokyo-based, London-born artist David Sharibani, aka Lord K2, who has had behind-the-scenes access to sumo stables and the Kokugikan arena in Tokyo.
That's what these newer events do best. They draw you in with sound, light, movement, even scent. You're part of it, and regular nights out don't feel the same.