The Crash of the Elysium (stage play)

The Crash of the Elysium was a Doctor Who immersive experience produced by Punchdrunk, BBC Wales, and Manchester International Festival, with Tom MacRae as writer and Felix Barrett as creative director, with the concept of the story being upon an idea by showrunner Steven Moffat. The immersive experience opened at MediaCityUK at the Salford Quays on 30 June  or on 1 July  until 17 July 2011. It was commissioned by the Manchester International Festival, the BBC and the, and was funded by the National Lottery.

The immersive experience was aimed exclusively at children aged six to twelve  in groups of twenty five, with certain times being reserved for children aged six to eight if accompanied by an adult  and with a limited amount of times being reserved for anyone over the age of thirteen to attend, due to popular demand, from 8 July to 15 July. It had a runtime of around an hour.

First announced in Doctor Who Magazine on 28 July 2011, The Crash of the Elysium was to reopen on 2012. In 2012, the experience was located at the Crown Car Park in Ipswich, sponsored by the ; it was performed from 15 June to 8 July, as part of the Ipswich Arts Festival 2012 (IpArt). With this iteration of the event, it was catered to schoolchilren on school trips, aged eight to twelve, although performances were still reserved for families and people over the age of thirteen, with some promotional material jokingly stating that the event was for people aged seven to seven hundred.

Publisher's summary
A live Doctor Who adventure in which the audience is the star of the show. The production is unlike anything audiences will have ever experienced. This is their story, their mission, the audience are the hero. No two shows are ever the same, no individual adventure is ever repeated. There is no stage, there is no comfy seating, there is no division between the world of the audience and the world of the show.

Plot
A group of children enter an exhibit about an ocean liner, the Elysium, where a curator tells them about the history of the ship, including about how it sunk, many decades before. Suddenly, the army burst in and escorts the group out as a matter of "national security". The group is then instructed to put on decontamination suits and then are briefed by Captain Soloman and Corporal Albright. The group is escorted to a scientific station by the site of the crashed Elysium, before entering the hull of the ship. Inside, they meet defense robots, and soon are cornered by Weeping Angels in a locked hallway, with Corporal Albright being attacked first before the group of children are sent back in time to a fairground in the 19th century, where they meet a girl, Dolly, who had previously travelled with the Doctor. The group of children are then sent to send the TARDIS back to the Doctor, still being pursued by Angels. Returning to the Elysium, the children restart the ship with artron energy, being able to escape the Angels who have all now being sucked into the walls. Before they leave, each child receives a letter from the Doctor himself.

Cast

 * Eleventh Doctor - Matt Smith
 * Curator - unknown
 * Captain Soloman - unknown
 * Corporal Albright - unknown
 * Dolly - unknown

Crew

 * Felix Barrett - Creative director, writer
 * Tom MacRae - Writer
 * Steven Moffat - Story idea
 * Livi Vaughan - Designer
 * Paul Normandale - Lighting designer
 * Stephen Dobbie - Sound designer

Pre-recorded scenes

 * Steve Hughes - Director
 * Richard Senior - Director

Promotion

 * The promotion of The Crash of the Elysium, initially, left out any mention of Doctor Who connections until not long prior to the first performances of the immersive experience. The promotion also involved tie-in websites and a short teaser on the Doctor Who website.