REVIEW: The Emerald Phantom, an escape room game, at Secret Studio, E1

‘The Emerald Phantom is in part the brainchild of the great Tice Oakfield’ ★★★★

When is theatre not really theatre? Certainly when it’s the setting for a new escape room in East London …

The instructions are precise - Time. Location. What to say. The door opens and we’re led through brutally lit corridors, up and down some stairs and then settle down to be briefed on what to expect. There’s a bar - nice - and pleasing nods around the room to technology and times of yore. After a short but detailed summary of background, plot and plan (see - it is theatre) we’re invited to enter a room - and the door is locked behind us. What then follows is 5 men attempting to figure out a myriad of padlock combinations, secret rooms, visual and audio clues before the allowed hour comes to an end and, let’s be honest, to avoid personal humiliation (nobody wants to be defeated by the ‘machine’ and not escape within 60 minutes).



To back things up a little, The Emerald Phantom is in part the brainchild of the great Tice Oakfield, a veritable stalwart of pub theatre land and perhaps best known for some wonderful performances in shows at The Jack Theatre in Brockley. His theatre background fuelled the idea for this escape room game and, indeed, the initial locked room is nicely curated as the dressing room of a leading actress with costumes hanging up for, in theory at least, the five of us to change into, for a scripted scene that needs a re-shoot. There are nice noir touches, a real attention to detail (time & place) and a real 1930’s feel as this backdrop helps bring to life the real story here involving, you guessed it, an emerald and a phantom and a cast of (on screen) characters including an austere millionaire, a suave magician and a jolly violinist. 

It’s not too much of a spoiler to say that this first room has a secret compartment and ultimately leads to a second, bigger room where there are multiple clues and strands to lead the players to the ‘answer’. I did initially feel that the background, scene and plot didn’t necessarily fit, but part of the joy here is uncovering the layers to the story and the ‘cause and effect’ of certain actions / realisations. Tice has said that couples play - which is rather nice - but the level of detail here means that a group is a good move and I can see corporates and work teams having great fun (especially as drinks and food can be served before and after).

The scope of the story and ‘what needs to be done’ in the second room meant that everyone was involved and whether you like working in a team or on your own (albeit as part of a wider group) there was much to enjoy. If you get stuck clues and ‘nudges’ are occasionally given out via video screen or over a PA system and, indeed, info is imparted in a multitude of ways. Everything means something and there are numerous theatrical flourishes to keep everyone engaged. 

All in all, this is something of a labour of love and it’s a lot of fun. Secret Studio run 3 different games so a return visit will be in order. Did we get out in time? Yes, we most certainly did and we went out into the East London rain happy ...

THE EMERALD PHANTOM, an escape room game 

Secret Studio, Wentworth Street, London, E1

A collaboration between Tice Oakfield, Andrew Williams & Oscar Balfour

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