The Door in Question, at Metro West Shopping Centre in Footscray and nearby - 90 minutes

What is real and what is imagined? What if you firmly – hand on heart – believe something to be true and you act accordingly?

These are questions dealt with in the ambitious new experience The Door in Question, part of the Sleepless Footscray Festival.

It is about identity and psychosis and is the brainchild of artistic director Troy Rainbow, who was informed by a family situation involving mental illness.

The Door in Question is a combination of immersive and interactive theatre, and virtual reality.

Troy is a great believer in filling underutilised spaces, the conceit being that art can be made anywhere.

First up, you enter a specially prepared small room in the middle of the vacant shopping centre on your own.

You sit on a couch and a voice asks you a number of questions, before you make your way to another very comfortable sofa nearby.

You lie down with a blanket over you and are given instructions on how to meditate for a few minutes.

Then you don virtual reality glasses and are catapulted into a world of graffitied shops, a mountain of babies, crossed wires in a home setting and more.

Thereafter, you remove the glasses and follow a set path for a few hundred metres outside the shopping centre.

You are encouraged to look around the area and take in what you see.

And then the artful experience takes another turn, as you make your way through a series of eight “dressed” rooms.

In them, you try to piece together the thoughts, beliefs and fears of several characters.

You get the feeling that something has gone horribly wrong and this becomes a cry for help.

Allegations proliferate and accusations are made.

The world is like shifting sand beneath your feet. There are threats at every turn. A secretive organisation looks to be trying to control minds and movements. Big Brother is watching. Religious and spiritual texts are scattered about.

So, what are we to make of all this?

Let me suggest that that is very much in the eyes of the beholder. Everyone will take in the experience differently. And that is the whole point.

This is a creative enterprise in which you are not told what to think, but there are subliminal cues and clues.

It is a head scratcher … a mind bender that I found challenging and exciting, audacious and enticing.

Those behind The Door in Question hope the installations and experience can travel with them interstate and, perhaps, even further afield.

To book for Footscray now, go to www.sleeplessfestival.com and scroll down to The Door in Question.