Technician on Layered Reality shows speaks out following company collapse

However, Pullan said the closure of Jeff Wayne’s The War of the Worlds: The Immersive Experience, on which he was also senior technical manager, was a "complete shock". 

"Immersive is a difficult industry," he told The Stage. "A lot of people don’t understand that [...] we’re running shows every 10, 20 minutes on repeat. Sometimes technology breaks down, sometimes actors break down." 

"For me, [sudden redundancy] has become routine in the world of the arts," he continued. 

"But a lot of my crew are younger and this is their first time going through something like this. I think they’re quite shocked and don’t quite know what to do next." 

Layered Reality closed late last month, with its parent company Ellipsis Entertainment ceasing to trade. The company’s War of the Worlds experience was the longest-running musical immersive theatre production at the point of its closure, having run for seven years.

Both Elvis Evolution and Jeff Wayne’s The War of the Worlds: The Immersive Experience have now closed, although Pullan attributed the overall collapse to the furore around Elvis Evolution, which he labelled "a huge factor". 

Pullan said: "The original concept for Elvis Evolution was that it was supposed to be a hologram show. That’s how it was originally advertised."

But, Pullan claimed, midway through production, producers were no longer able to make use of the hologram of Elvis Presley. By this point, the advertising campaign was already well underway.

"But, of course, Ellipsis Entertainment and Layered Reality had already invested so much into the show [...] they had to make the show, at that point. 

"So they pivoted but then when we opened the first week, because people were expecting this Elvis hologram, something like ABBA Voyage, they were angry." 

The Stage understands the advertising was tweaked to focus more on Presley’s biography rather than the hologram, however some audience members complained that they felt that the production had not explicitly informed customers that there would no longer be a hologram. 

After the show opened, Pullan recalled the adverse reaction escalating fast, with one audience member who was particularly upset being escorted out by security. 

"It was just one of those things that, once the damage is done, it’s really hard to come back from it," he said. 

The technician also said that, while immersive was a particularly difficult and lesser-understood part of the sector, it had potential to grow, and he urged other companies to "learn from Layered Reality’s mistakes".

"I think Layered Reality was one of these companies that was an innovator for the industry," he said. "They held the flag up for the immersive world." 

Referring to Jeff Wayne’s The War of the Worlds: The Immersive Experience’s long run, Pullan added: "It’s proven that it can work. It’s a shame that it’s gone, because I think it could have gone further."

The War of the Worlds team told The Stage: "The production did not close because it was failing. It closed because of the collapse of its operating company, Ellipsis Entertainment (Layered Reality), and the legal and operational consequences that followed. That distinction is important to understand."

Addressing the 60 employees solely working on The War of the Worlds, the team’s statement added: "Losing those jobs is something we felt deeply. 

"These were talented, dedicated people who helped build an extraordinary experience over seven years and who deserved far better than the situation they ultimately found themselves in."

Representatives for Layered Reality and Ellipsis Entertainment, as well as the Presley estate, have been contacted for comment.