What links Punchdrunk’s Burnt City to Patti Smith and John McEnroe?

As the celebrated theatre group launches a new immersive show, comply with it down the rabbit gap by way of Damon Albarn, Meryl Streep and Glenda Jackson

The theatre company Punchdrunk has expanded what’s attainable on stage – and spawned many immersive imitators. All of the while, it’s reinvented basic texts in unusual settings, merging theatre, dance, movie and set up artwork, and leaving audiences dazzled and unsettled … and drained from all that strolling round. Its newest is The Burnt City, based mostly around the Trojan struggle, staged at its new London HQ.