Immersive ‘Wolf of Wall Street’ is bringing bold behaviour to London

The Wolf of Wall Street, a black comedy crime film based on the outrageous memoir of Jordan Belfort, is coming to London as a new, immersive theatre experience. 

Belfort, a wealthy stockbroker, living the high life of drugs, crime and corruption, inevitably suffers at the hands of his own lifestyle – ultimately leading to his downfall. The film, released in the U.S. in December 2013, stars Hollywood actors such as Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Margot Robbie and Matthew McConaughey, and was directed by Martin Scorsese. Grossing $392 million, it became Scorsese’s highest-grossing film, and is now being adapted across four floors in central London.

Audience members will become either a Wall Street trader at Belfort’s Stratton Oakmont firm, or an FBI agent working to uncover their illegal activities. With a dress code of 90s American office attire, the audience will explore the extravagant world of Belfort, including settings relevant to the film. Audience members can eat at restaurants, drink at bars, and even flounce around flashy “supercars”. 

The explosive, extravagant and ludicrous nature of the Stratton Oakmont scenes alone would make an entertaining experience to be a part of

The adaptation is brought to you by the same director as The Great Gatsby immersive experience. Running since 2017, Alexander Wright’s Gatsby experience involves rooms filled with jazz music, audience members drinking special cocktails, and one-on-one encounters with the actors. With a 1920s dress code, this event has been a consistent success from it’s first arrival on the London scene. The Gatsby experience has been rated 4.5 stars by critics and has shows that run almost every day. The Wolf of Wall Street adaptation is said to have the same high expectations, with even more extravagance and flair.

The raging success of The Great Gatsby immersive experience means that there are high hopes for The Wolf of Wall Street. The explosive, extravagant, and ludicrous nature of the Stratton Oakmont scenes alone would make an entertaining experience to be a part of. Belfort’s life is intriguing and nonsensical in a way that immersive theatre could certainly build on. Attending this event will be like going to the ‘party of the year’ – an event you will never forget and an experience that would heighten all of your senses. The producers of the show, Louis Hartshorn and Brian Hook, declared that there would be “no better way to tell this story than through immersive theatre. The show would explore the extremes of capitalism and hedonistic behaviour and how obsession with money can bring humanity to its knees… Our guests can expect the outrageous, the spectacular and the downright ridiculous.”

We’re always going to want a taste of something more

Immersive shows such as The Great Gatsby and The Wolf of Wall Street highlight the increasing demand for audience members to feel connected and involved in a performance. Just like with 3D cinema, we no longer want to just observe the spectacular events and lives that are shown before us, we want to feel involved in them. We all want to get the most out of the entertainment experience, and what better way than having an engagement with all five of your senses?

Being actively involved in the story allows you to forget about your personal grievances and to live in someone else’s shoes for a couple of hours. Gatsby and Belfort lived lives that none of us would dare to live in reality; Gatsby revelling in lavish parties, corruption, constant jazz music and the flow of alcohol, and Belfort being a real life 90s version – partying at work, and living a life of crime and damning corruption. Audience members want to travel into the unknown and experience something that is this extravagant without the consequences that comes with living it in reality.  In this sense, The Wolf of Wall Street and similar productions will are bound be a raging success. We’re always going to want a taste of something more, from the roaring 20s to the lavish parties of the 90s.