Fringe review: Transmission – Into the Dark
“The strange is real and the real is strange” in this mysterious nocturnal walking experience that leads participants through the darkened streets of Port Willunga to an unknown destination. ★★★★
There’s something undeniably intriguing about an after-dark experience whose exact location remains secret until after you’ve booked tickets.
For Transmission – into the dark, we’re directed to a quiet street in Port Willunga. After we arrive at the appointed time – just as the setting sun bathes the neighbourhood in an orange glow and a large, almost full Moon rises beyond – the frisson of excitement only intensifies.
Presented by Melbourne-based arts collective one step at a time like this with Richard Jordan Productions, Transmission is described as “an intimate nocturnal journey that interweaves site-specific radio, installation, night-walking and the sky”. It will be, says the Adelaide Fringe listing, “a night where the strange is real and the real is strange”.
Beyond this, we know nothing. As advised, however, we are wearing comfortable walking shoes and have come to the designated address with phones fully charged. Waiting on the footpath, we hear the ping of a text that delivers our next instruction.
From there, our mysterious journey begins as we make our way along the shadowy streets where traffic is sparse, few people seem to be home, and the birdsong seems unnaturally loud.
Senses heightened, we notice things that would usually seem unremarkable: Christmas lights still glowing well past their use-by date, the television screen flickering inside a living room with curtains not yet drawn, a large lounge chair placed kerbside as if inviting us to take a rest. There’s even a cheeky possum scuttling past on a powerline.
Our actions are directed by audio instructions from radio host Clair Korobacz, text messages and a series of typewritten notes. It would be unfair to reveal everything that occurs, but the experience includes music, an open door, sand, stars, esoteric musings and personal reflections.
Who am I in the dark? Where am I going? What does it all mean?
As we drift – sometimes with direction, sometimes not – our imaginations go into overdrive and it feels like there’s an overlapping of the physical and spiritual. Is it coincidence that I feel a breeze on my skin and catch a faint scent of smoke just as we start hearing the First Nations narrative by Isaac Hannam and Robert Taylor? Is that a person standing in the shadows, or just a reflection of my own fear?
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We’re advised to respect each other’s solitude on this journey, but you can do this even if booking with a companion – because while Transmission ultimately aims to make participants feel cocooned by the darkness, most women have an understandable fear of it that is hard to shake.
The coastal neighbourhood of Port Willunga is an ideal location for an immersive experience that cements you in the moment and encourages you to explore both yourself and your environs. We finished it feeling exhilarated, happy to have taken a punt on a show that gave away so little in advance, and determined to reclaim the night – or, at least, the night sky.
The sessions for the rest of this Adelaide Fringe season are all sold out, but we hear Transmission may return. If it does, put on your walking shoes and take a leap in the dark.
Transmission: into the dark continues until March 16
Read more 2025 Adelaide Fringe coverage here on InReview