Don't Stop Believing
Reviews and a Truly Mixed Bag of Immersive
Why, hello there, fellow immersonauts. Your humble guide to the interactive, experimental and overpriced is back to talk about the things I’ve seen and the things I’m seeing. Being a critic isn’t all sunshine and rainbows — sometimes your craft requires you to see some work in which you have no hope at all. That’s the season that’s coming up for me, so I’ll be clear which of the upcoming drops I’m going to see out of duty and I’m going to see out of hope so you can tune your interest correctly.
That said, there are a few good things out there and it’s soon going to be summer concert time in NYC, so there will be at least a couple of good shows to catch. I’m also heading to London for the Voidspace conference to see a bunch of immersive in one go, so my next report will be chock-full of new work to vicariously enjoy.
As always, poke me if something crosses your radar that I and others should know about. There have got to be some roses amidst all the thorns after all.
Immersive Reviews
Subject - A really potent two-person dance performance set in a dystopian future where you witness two test subjects for a drug that erases memories. Dance duo and immersive veterans Welcome to Campfire put together this short and powerful piece exploring loss, memory, and connection. It was staged in the extremely intimate setting of 3AM Theatre, where we sat on benches less than a meter from the performers as they charged through their aggressive, repetitive, and abortive movements. It’s one of the best dance things I’ve seen in a while. Welcome to Campfire are very interested in the mixed media side of this, having done an interactive component for the piece during its first run back in COVID and an accompanying film this time. They are looking to remount Subject with two other companion pieces in the same sci-fi setting in the near future. Watch this group — they are smart and daring and the work delivers.
Death of Rasputin - The inadvertent inheritor of the mantel of big immersive since the wild death of Life and Trust, Death of Rasputin is a multi-room, dance/theater fusion about early 20th century Russia and its volatile mix of out-of-touch nobility, corrupt armies, raging revolutionaries, and cult-leader con artists. The show was in early days when I saw it, but I would say it had potential. The set isn’t Punchdrunk mind-blowing, but given that it’s an art center on Governor’s Island, they do a pretty good job giving you the setting. The early part of the show is the weakest as the text just hammering the character’s motivations into your head and the actors were trying too hard to deliver it, but as the performance went on, it got more dance focused and evocative and it found its footing. By the finale, I was completely on its side, and it’s big enough to support at least a few different paths with very different content. (A friend I went with got to be part of a plot I never even saw.) And refreshingly, this piece has a strong sense of humor which at least for me is a breath of fresh air in mask-adjacent work. This one you can still catch as the run has been extended until the end of May. It’s expensive ($140) and it wasn’t perfect when I went, but if you need a fix of pretty good larger scale immersive, this is the one to see.
Upcoming Immersive
Here it comes. A couple of good things up front and then a steady stream of less promising potential trash. Here there be dragons, I guess.
First of all, this is your reminder that Viola’s Room is running at The Shed and you should see that if you actually want to call yourself an immersonaut.
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha - I don’t know how much you read this list and mourn that you missed the good stuff because it was gone before you could see it, but if that has been your plight, do I have good news for you. Julia Masli’s truly excellent clown show is back in NYC at the Public. How excellent, you ask? One of my four favorite things in immersive all last year, I answer. I’m still not telling you anything about it because you should just go see it. But I’m planning on catching it again too so write me if you want to coordinate attending and thus relieving your FOMO alongside friends . Tickets are like $54 with taxes and the show runs from May 30th to June 22nd.
Secrets Bar - And now we find ourselves at the precipice of the definitely good and almost certainly bad. Secrets Bar is an immersive theater experience set in a bar where you “eavesdrop” on other tables when a spotlight hits them to witness the action of the play. The website implies some interaction, but I can’t tell if it’s just an inverse surround play or if you can actually engage in the story. Jury is completely out on quality. Still, I’m going to try to see it this month. Let me know if you want to do it with me. $55 per person for a drink and show.
Down the Road - An immersive version of the Lee Blessing play about a journalist and her husband interviewing a serial killer in prison. This is from The Other Side, the group that gave us the trashfire that was Call Us Villains, but the director is new and it’s a previous existent play, so that’s enough change to get this critic back to the buffet to sample it again. If you really want to take the chance, I’m going on 5/16 and you will have someone to commiserate with if the low expectations become reality. Tickets are like $50.
Bootleg Bandit Saloon - Another immersive drink event, this time with a Western outlaw saloon theme where you can rub shoulders with outlaws and dodge the Sheriff. Dear friends, I actually was shuddering as I wrote that. It’s another The Other Side production, so I really don’t have any hope at all, but new director, right? I can’t even sell this one to you. If you really want to roll the dice, please reach out so neither of us has to endure it alone.
The Jury Experience - Fever is supporting this theatrical experience in which you witness a trial and then use your phone to vote how the story moves. Nothing about this sounds good to me; it’s very likely a play about a cheesy, multi-twist crime story where your only interaction is to vote at the end. Still, these are things critics must do. I haven’t decided on when to see this yet, but it’s about $55 and it runs periodically until the end of the year. If you’re dying to see it, let me know and we’ll find a day — otherwise, I’ll catch it when it overlaps my schedule and let you know if I just gave in and saw it.
Concerts
If you’re unfamiliar, one of the great things about NYC is that lots of parks host free and paid quite good concerts during the summer and given that they are outdoors, you don’t even need to get a ticket. You can just get a blanket and sit in the park to hear some good live music. This is an early and incomplete list, but the stuff I think you should mark your calendars for is:
Snail Mail (opener for, ugh, Dinosaur Jr.) - Prospect Park, July 17th
Men I Trust - Prospect Park, July 18th
Soccer Mommy - Central Park, Sept 16th
Wet Leg - Central Park, Sept 17th
There you go. Summer will be here before you know it and with that, more great NYC stuff to do. You let me know what’s cool and I promise to do the same.
P.S.: Would you happen to have access to a bathroom that could feasible fit about a dozen people inside that also has a tub? If so, would you be willing to host an immersive event in it? If so, let me know. I’m asking, someone presumptively, for a friend.