I Do -Barbican, London

Writer: Chloë Moss

Director: Daphna Attias

A hotel room is the most intimate place where you could be a voyeur, and a wedding is always a hub for drama, family connection and romance. Combine the two and Dante or Die’s I Do, staged in the Malmasion Hotel, is a brilliantly innovative, immersive show that puts you slap bang in the centre of the action.

Staged across six rooms, you’re invited to witness the same 10 minutes before a wedding from varying perspectives within each room. On arrival, you’re assigned a group, so your order of viewing will be different depending on which one you’re in, but with no linear storyline required, it shouldn’t change your interest in any way what order you view them. Although each room has its own individual main characters within it, there is a lot of interaction and overlapping stories that slowly come together after viewing all six rooms, slotting the puzzle pieces of their wedding drama together in this wonderfully unique production.

Georgina (Carla Langley) is the anxious bride, Tunde (Dauda Ladejobi) the nervous groom, each reeling after comments made the night before. The rest of the wedding party barely even notices the slight hiccup between the lovebirds, wrapped up in their own problems and struggles. Mother of the bride Helen (Johanne Murdock) is frantically trying to finalise the last-minute details, Joe (Manish Gandhi) is polishing his best man speech and maid of honour Abigail (Tessie Orange-Turner) is distractedly concentrating on the problems in her own marriage. These snapshots of normality are blended well with snippets of secrets, lies, drama and shock revelations that slowly come to light, making you completely immersed as a fly on the wall in the intimate setting. The role of the cleaner (Terry O’Donovan) is present within each scene, but his inclusion remains mostly unclear, other than just to be another invisible voyeur in the proceedings.

The concept is fantastic, but some of the logistics around the staging do, at points, hamper the enjoyment of the performances, and after two hours (30 minutes longer than the originally advised runtime) of being squeezed together in narrow corridors before entering each room, the novelty of it all begins to wear thin. A lot of the experience is dependent on the spot you have managed to bag in the hotel room. Sometimes, if you’re stuck at the back with a bad view, you miss a lot of the action, and if you’ve ended up in a spot that becomes an area in whichthe characters interact, there’s a lot of awkward shuffling around trying not to get even more in the way. Either utilising larger hotel rooms, having fewer people in each assigned group or keeping a designated area inside each room for viewing would really help to ensure everyone can remain engaged and included.

That being said, the cast does a fantastic job of ensuring that the 12 or so people in the room do not affect their stride, seamlessly working around everyone without any hesitation. The rooms are fully explored as though nobody at all is there, wardrobes are flung open, emotionally charged conversations, private moments of joy, sadness or sexual gratification are showcased with such tenderness and intrigue that you truly do feel fully invisible within the environment; A feat not many productions pull off well, but is expertly navigated and portrayed by the Dante or Die creative team and cast.

Runs until 8 February 2026 and then continues to tour