In keeping with the carnival theatre movement, the OCUS company sets up its fleet of caravans and imposing 30 x 15 metre circus tent to present Le Dédale Palace, the imaginary attraction of an innovative nomadic start-up offering a series of tailor-made experiences. Of course in this world of theatrical inventions, sales pitch hocus-pocus, knights and princesses, schemes and surprises, the show plays with different registers. In this immersive internet for Silicon Valley algorithmic oracles, this “carnival 2.0” constantly oscillates between reality and the imaginary world, personal experimentation and collective distortion, political and philosophical questions and the childlike wonder of an in-and-out carnival.

Shifting from a mirror maze to theatre stands, OCUS plays with the possibilities of immersion and sensory mystification by using a wide range of techniques (video, sound, distorting mirrors) to confuse the spectator and explore the virtual world and personal data collection. From sales-talk to intimacy, mixing data and freedom, this complex immersive production in three acts is a perfect artistic metaphor for modern digital issues. The spectator is manipulated, and fully aware of it, until the final denouement, and leaves Dédale Palace with a revived awareness of the urgency of community and the need for others.