Love Lust Lost | Broad Encounters

Ambitious in scope, completely overwhelming in all the best ways, chock full of secrets and surprisingly moving at times, Love Lust Lost is a true feast for the senses. Broad Encounters has struck gold once again with their latest production by creating a world that you’ll want to get lost in again and again.

I don’t want to say too much about the Love Lust Lost, because an experience like this is truly worth going into cold. That being said, I can’t write about the show without talking about a few elements of the story and staging. Consider yourself warned.

As soon as we arrived at the Valley Docklands venue, my companion and I were thrust into the world of Love Lust Lost. I was already excited for my first experience, and was enough to send my immersive theatre geekery into overdrive. Support staff of the E.V. Nautilas asked us to choose our role for our journey; Crew or Researcher. All the research positions had been snapped up by my fellow punters, so I was left to embrace the role of Crew. This was just the first choice that would impact my journey into the experimental habitat of the E.V. Nautilas and would go on to impact how the inhabitants of the Nautilas would interact with me in small ways throughout the show. A simple touch that helped to immerse all the punters into the world into the world and showcased how much the creative team had worked to ensure the audience were active participants in the world of Love Lust Lost. A great touch to prime everyone for the adventures ahead

With everyone assigned a role, it was time to start our journey. We were first squeezed into a pressurised tank where we signed our lives away, before being dropped into the ocean depths. The real world was washed away with simple, but important touches like an uneven floor and rising sound track that only further increased my excitement before the show truly began.  

All images: Jade Ellis

Once our pod docked with the E.V. Nautilas, we were welcomed aboard by the seven-member cast featuring Captain Anderson (Sandro Collarelli), leader of the crew. Salacia (Lucinda Shaw), resident self-help guru and Ursula in all but a name. Sandy (Asher Bowen-Saunders), the Captain’s daughter and resident ingénue. Claude (Carla Beard), Sandy’s confidante and protector. Chan (Chris Braithwaite), a new visitor for a mysterious past. The Balladeer (Ben Adams), an enigmatic peddler of secrets through song. And finally, The Mariner (Kristian Santic), a true man of the sea. They stood before us in front of two paths, and after the quick introduction, they disappeared into the world beyond; half in each direction. We were left with The Mariner, who broke down the final remnants of the fourth wall. “Choose your path. Left or Right”.

Seeing everyone’s faces light up around me highlights the power of immersive theatre. Straight away, the audience knew they were responsible for their own experience.  My friend and I quickly agreed to take separate paths, and bid each other a quick goodbye before setting off on our own adventures for the evening.

To say much more would spoil many of the surprises on offer in Love Lust Lost. Let me just say that there is an immense world, possibly the biggest immersive theatre production that has ever hit Australia, with 38 rooms, and 1,500 square metres to explore. Add to this an overarching story, numerous moments of personal interaction with the characters, song, circus, puzzles, a hidden bar and so much more. If you’re anything like me, you’ll be champing at the bit to book your next journey as soon as you leave. And for the super passionate, there’s even the option to join the “League de la Mer” which offers season passes and access to special experiences only available to members.

It’s almost impossible to describe the experience to someone if they’ve never attended an immersive theatre show. It’s part musical, part Choose Your Own Adventure, part adult playground, and part fever dream, with a dash of meta-narrative and so much more. If you attended Broad Encounter’s record breaking run of A Midnight Visit last year, you’ll have an idea about what to expect – gloriously detailed set design that you’ll want to explore at length, beautifully twisted characters roaming the sets, secret passages, numerous secrets about the world that can be found throughout the rooms and interactions with the characters and even a few puzzles to get lost in. All the stuff that you’d expect from a good immersive theatre show. Special mention needs to be given to the set and art design teams who have created a world feels real and lived in.

In Love Lust Lost Broad Encounters have upped the ante on their previous show though by adding an overarching narrative that made the show’s world more accessible for me than their A Midnight Visit. The story of Love Lust Lost story is based on 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and ‘The Little Mermaid (the dark and twisty original story, not the Disney version), mixed with Heart of Darkness, mashed together with numerous literary and pop-culture references and songs. Going in with a vague knowledge of these texts will help you to piece together some of storylines of our characters, but you don’t need to have degree in literature to understand the show as there’s plenty to explore and get lost in. Ultimately though, your experience will just be like how we all understand the world around, through glimpses of the stories of those around us, and the stories they share with us. So if you take your time, explore the rooms and engage with the characters you bump into, you’ll get a whole lot more out of the experience.

All images: Jade Ellis

Speaking of characters, the seven core performers throw themselves into their roles with abandon. While all in the cast were exceptional, Lucinda Shaw’s Salacia was a highlight. Salacia is equal parts seductress, lost soul and manipulator, peddling remedies to fix all that ails both the cast and punters and manipulating all and sundry. If you find manage to receive one of her special salon remedies or join her in her dungeon, you are in for a treat.

Apart from Salacia, my night was shaped interactions with the Captain and Sandy, along with a few choice secrets shared by the Balladeer. There were too many highlights, but particularly memorable moments included a quiet conversation with the Captain in his room, Claude’s mournful rendition of Like a Circle by Ben Abraham and Sandy’s deal with the devil and metamorphosis. I was seduced in a dungeon, read someone’s diary, offered life advice, chased hints, traded metaphors, decoded messages and was left personally marked. It was all delicious.

There is so much more to the characters and to the rooms to explore and unpack than one trip could offer. My companion experienced a whole different world and part of the narrative to me and found rooms I didn’t. I could have easily spent much of the night trying to understand the secrets of the Brig and the Comms room alone. I can’t wait to return.

While I could go on for ages about all the aspects of the show I loved, there was one thing that I wished could be tweaked – the series of gates that are used to funnel the audience throughout the show. While they seem to serve the purpose of bringing the audience together to experience the key beats in the overarching story, they proved frustrating at times when I was locked out of areas I wanted to explore or was blocked from following one of the characters. This seemed to be echoed by a few other punters who were with me when actively following characters or exploring spaces. Due to the gates, there is also no way that you’ll be able to see every room in one night, as your choice of going left or right results in you only being able to explore around half the rooms of the show.

All images: Jade Ellis

Don’t get me wrong, this was more than enough for one visit, particularly if you take your time and savour your interactions with the cast. However, one of the delights of immersive performances for me is to be able to return to get to know more of the story, to follow the journeys of your favourite characters and to see things unfold from new angles. For me, the gates decrease the replay value of Love Lust Lost, as they add a layer of unpredictability to each performance and that would make it more difficult than it needs to be to follow the stories of the characters. Without the gates, I would be happy to return seven times to follow each of the characters on their journey. With the gates, I worry that I would get stuck seeing the same things on a return visit, so I’ll have to test out how much they take away my agency when I return. I hope Broad Encounters considers adapting the gate system to some degree during this season or in future runs. A few small tweaks such as letting punters follow a character before they lock a gate or giving special privileges to League de la Mer members would alleviate this issue and increase the chances of punters coming back again and again throughout the season.

Note that I only labour this point, because Love Lust Lost is truly a special show and tweaking the gate system would further improve an already incredible audience experience. Trust me, I’m definitely coming back. At least a few times.

Love Lust Lost is an innovative work of surreal beauty that smashes the conventions of traditional theatre in all the best ways and sinks its teeth into you in a way that will make you want to return again and again. It cements Broad Encounters as a company at the forefront immersive theatre in Australia and one of the companies in the field to watch internationally. The narrative and the world that they have created is on par with the early productions of Punchdrunk, one of the world’s leading immersive theatre companies, and hopefully it’s just the beginning for Broad Encounters. It’s a privilege that we get to see a Meanjin-based company pushing the boundaries of their chosen form and testing it on us locals.

So, if you’re tired of hibernating away the winter months, are looking for adventure, want to get lost in a story or just want to see a local independent company making innovative new work, then Love Lust Lost is for you. Of course, you could continue take your live performance passively, sitting down, but why would you? And why should we? With Broad Encounters continuing to create new works here, they’ll hopefully continue to test new and exciting immersive theatre works on Meanjin for a long time to come. Make sure to sign up for a voyage into Love Lust Lost before the end of this season to see the future of theatre and all its possibilities.

Love Lust Lost plays at The Valley Docklands, 95 Roberston Street, The Valley, until 21 August 2022.