Recognised
Immersive Events
& Simulations
Sidestream partners with theatre company Diatribe to design evening, full-day and week-long events for up to 300 participants, with West End production quality and lasting behavioural impact. Shorter formats sit alongside the events: a one-day immersive workshop, interactive training for a single team, and the experiential learning training that underpins all of them.
Updated October 2026
What Makes Us Different
Theatre Meets
Behavioural Science
Our immersive experiences go far beyond watching a show. Participants become part of high-stakes, interactive stories where every choice shapes what happens next. Active retrieval consistently outperforms passive review for long-term retention; Roediger and Karpicke (2006) showed testing increases retention by around 50% over re-reading. This is why our immersive theatre methodology drives behaviour change that traditional corporate training cannot match. The same principle underpins our simulation training method, where actor-led scenarios rehearse the real decisions and conversations a team faces. The same rehearsal sits inside our corporate training in London, and it is what gives a corporate away day something to show for itself on Monday. Read about our research-backed approach or six sector case studies. The same method runs at workplace scale as immersive simulation training in London and as actor-led role play training for managers.
300
Max participants per event
600+
The Accused attendees
+50%
Retention boost: active retrieval vs re-reading (Roediger & Karpicke, 2006)
2
Productions recognised at industry awards
Passive review wins the room. Retrieval wins the week. Students read a short science text. One group then studied it three more times (repeated study). Another did not study it again and instead wrote down everything they could recall, three times, with no feedback (repeated testing). Five minutes later the re-readers remembered more, 83% against 71%. A week later the order had reversed: 61% against 40%. Three guides take that evidence further: immersive training vs e-learning, whether role play is effective training, and the difference between real play and role play.
Source: Roediger, H. L. and Karpicke, J. D. (2006), Psychological Science 17(3), 249-255, Experiment 2. Author copy at Purdue Learning Lab (PDF).
Our Experiences
Recognised Events
Recognised at the CorpComms Awards
Diversity & Inclusion · Mental Health
The Death of Jane Doe
An Immersive Exploration of Mental Health Stigma in Frontline Work
Sidestream worked with Met Police Lewisham and The Innocence Project to create an experience that helped people face their own assumptions about mental health. As the story unfolds, participants meet people living with schizophrenia and antisocial personality disorder, and are asked: "Are you seeing the truth, or your own assumptions?"
"When else can you have an honest talk with someone living with a serious mental health condition, except through immersive theatre?"
Goldsmiths Public Engagement Awards 2018: commended
Diversity & Inclusion · Gender Bias
The Accused
Sexism, Justice, and the Psychology of a Murder Trial
Set in a 1950s courtroom, participants step into the role of jurors in the trial of Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be hanged in the UK. Using real trial transcripts, live theatre, music, and film, the event explores how gender bias, media narratives, and double standards can distort our sense of justice. Over 600 people have taken part.
"A gripping and thought-provoking experience that made me reflect on how much, or how little, has changed for women in the workplace and beyond."
Leadership & Crisis Management
Top of the Cops
Punk, Protest, and Power: An Immersive Business Chaos Experience
Set in the gritty world of an underground 1980s punk gig, participants are thrown into chaos, where reputation, ethics, and control constantly collide. Rival bands clash, a family feud erupts, and an eco-protest threatens the night. Every decision shapes the story, showing how bias, values, and leadership style determine outcomes under pressure.
"An 80s punk gig as a masterclass in leadership and reputation management? Pure genius."
Decision-Making · Game Theory
The Unfolding
Step into the Auction, Nothing is as it Seems
Participants enter a high-society auction led by the mysterious final will of a billionaire. Every bid carries hidden risks, and power quickly shifts. Drawing on psychology, economic game theory, and immersive storytelling, this experience explores how competition, collaboration, and human nature shape every decision. "Will you play the game, or will the game play you?"
"A high-energy, thought-provoking way to explore bias, decision-making, and what it really means to win."
Resilience & Strategy
The Nuclear Site Simulation
A High-Stakes Resilience and Strategy Ecosystem
A week-long simulation where participants step into the roles of government regulators, nuclear experts, NGOs, investors, and trade unions. Designing a sustainable energy transition for the region around a UK nuclear site, teams face a nuclear leak, a political shake-up, live negotiations, and an in-game currency (ISOTOPES) that measures influence and reputation.
"The closest thing to real-world business diplomacy I've ever experienced."
AI & Future Strategy
Future-Proofing the Entertainment Industry
A Scenario Week on AI Regulation
Participants take on the roles of streaming platforms, film studios, AI developers, unions, and ethics groups, negotiating new AI rules in a fast-paced, competitive environment. Using TOKENS (an in-game currency), teams book meetings, form alliances, and win regulatory approval. The result: a realistic AI governance framework shaped by real stakeholder tensions.
"Brilliantly designed, it pushed us to think critically, adapt quickly, and understand the real pressures of AI governance."
Created In Partnership With
Theatre Company Diatribe
Met Police Lewisham
Goldsmiths Forensic Psychology Unit
The Innocence Project
Courts & Tribunals Service
Immersive Events and Simulations: The Takeaways
Sidestream's immersive events pair theatre with behavioural science to drive change that conventional corporate training cannot match, for groups up to 300. Active retrieval consistently beats passive review for retention, which is why our immersive experiences make participants part of high-stakes stories where every choice shapes what happens next. Two of the productions have received industry recognition.
- The Death of Jane Doe (recognised at the CorpComms Awards) explores mental health stigma; The Accused (commended at the Goldsmiths Public Engagement Awards 2018) examines gender bias and justice.
- Top of the Cops, The Unfolding, The Nuclear Site Simulation and the entertainment-industry scenario week extend the range into leadership, decision-making and strategy.
- Created in partnership with theatre company Diatribe, Met Police Lewisham, Goldsmiths Forensic Psychology Unit and the Innocence Project.
- Built for audiences up to 300, with lasting behavioural impact rather than one-off inspiration.
Planning an immersive event in London? This page is the overview of the productions. The pages that go further cover what immersive events in London cost and how they work, a large-group immersive event for conferences and all-hands, and the working part of a corporate away day in London.
Got a specific challenge in mind? A 30-minute call gives you a clearer answer than the website ever could.
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