DeepFake

DeepFake from 404 Theater is everything you hope it’ll be: an immersive theatre experience tucked away at the top of Underbelly Cowgate. If you persist with the stairs, you’ll be in for a treat.

You’re greeted by a colleague, given a clipboard, given a lanyard, allowed to choose a pen (enjoy all the slogans) and briefly left to yourself. Then you’re ushered into your office which ought to be just as you left it before your extended break from your job as Head of PR at MindMimic. Waiting at your desk is a Zoom call. And from there, the story unfolds.

Any more of an insight into MindMimic’s expectations will spoil the surprise but this is an exquisitely executed show by Grace Goheen and Minh-Anh Day. The office booth set is dripping with lovely detail – the sinister photo on one wall, the excellent examples of your work to date – or are they? – on the other. Check out the mug. And you might want to take notes. The show is billed as horror but don’t let this put you off if you’re faint of heart. It’s horror in a 1984 kind of way rather than being any sort of jump scare, gorefest or zombie apocalypse.

The whole experience lasts about 15 minutes but those 15 minutes will set your heart racing, will make you question yourself and will make you question whether the world we live in is ever going to end up in a good place. Which is exactly what 404 Theater hope you’ll do. Now go away and fill out that consultation. The show is sold out until the end of the run but you can sign up to be notified about returns on the company’s website.