The show takes place in a former Williamsburg school building redesigned as a mental hospital, complete with stern-looking nurses in 19th-century habits. Third Rail's most enduring success is Then She Fell, a theatrical trip through a wonderland of Lewis Carroll and his writings. Marissa Nielsen-Pincus and Tara O'Con in Third Rail Projects' 'Then She Fell ' photo by Chad HeirdĪlso founded in 2000, this Brooklyn-based company has mounted multiple immersive shows in NYC and beyond, notably The Grand Paradise, set at a beach resort during the hedonist 1970s, and Ghost Light, which took place in and around Lincoln Center's Claire Tow Theater, offering a kind of backstage tour of theatrical lore. So while Punchdrunk continues to create other work internationally - now labeled "site sympathetic and experiential" - this is its NYC flagship. What's next? Sleep No More is still packing in crowds today. There are also ample opportunities for interaction as characters rush up and down the stairs. Theatregoers, who are all given masks to wear at the outset, wander through these chambers on their own, examining the environments as a loud film noir soundtrack plays, and watching various startling tableaux vivant, such as Lady Macbeth washing her hands naked in a bathtub. On its half dozen floors are approximately 100 dimly lit rooms, some of which don't feel like rooms at all, such as a graveyard that seems to generate its own fog. The action unfolds in a former Chelsea nightclub, which was redesigned into an opulent but abandoned World War II-era hotel. An engaging if dizzying mix of design, dance and wordless drama is employed for this interpretation of Shakespeare's Macbeth as if retold by Alfred Hitchcock and Isadora Duncan. Of course, like engaging theatre of any kind, immersive shows must ultimately tell a coherent story - even if it's one that theatregoers largely piece together on their own.įounded in 2000, this UK-based company helped kick off the immersive theatre craze in NYC when it brought Sleep No More stateside in 2011. At the same time, immersive productions often emphasize social interactions, either through directed tasks in small groups, or by fostering a looser party atmosphere.Ħ. Immersive shows sometimes give participants the sense of a uniquely personal experience, one where the individual has a certain amount of control.ĥ. Immersive productions sometimes double as hands-on exhibits, offering theatregoers an opportunity to explore show-related "artifacts" as part of the experience.Ĥ. Immersive theatre tends to stimulate the senses more intensely some engage all five.ģ. The work is frequently site-specific, crafted for a space not usually used for live performance.Ģ. The audience doesn't just sit and look at a proscenium stage - often there's no sitting at all. An immersive show, first and foremost, offers a different physical environment from a traditional theatre. But some theatres, like the five we're highlighting today, epitomize the label, creating adventurous and groundbreaking work that incorporates all (or most) of the six elements that define the genre at its best.ġ. So many companies call their shows "immersive" these days that the designation has become almost meaningless, seemingly just a shorthand for cool. Where to see shows that plunge you into the action
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