‘BITE’ Nips at Immersive Dining (Review)

Sometimes, an immersive team enters into the LA immersive scene with ambitions to create a small universe with each of their pieces. And sometimes, a creator is actually able to secure not one, but two venues right next door to each other to make it happen. Enter The Count’s Den — a venue downtown created by Rachel Foti that promises to create episodic immersive that blends together both escape room and immersive narratives. Ambitious? Sure, but it’s exactly what makes LA’s immersive scene great. With each new episode every few months, The Count’s Den looks to send participants deeper into the narrative world that both honor repeat visitors but doesn’t alienate the new.

Enter BITE — my first foray into the strange, sometimes goofy world of The Count’s Den. All these characters — a mother, butler, brother, sister, cousin — the whole gang was there to welcome us as we walked into this “live” vampire lair. Our invitation was extended to humans because of a dire otherworldly incident: the father vampire has been bitten by a werewolf and has become a shell of himself — a violent beast that the family is bent on curing. We humans have been invited to enjoy dinner with them as a fundraiser to help pay for/find a cure. At least, that was the story as I understand it. It never made perfect sense what our role was in his cure, but that really wasn’t the point.

As we move throughout the space, each character introduces themselves and shares their own opinion on their father’s transformation. The story is conveyed through a series of “one-on-many” interactions. Each small group is pulled along into various nooks and crannies (and even a limo) of the surprisingly well-produced The Count’s Den. Once out of these scenes, participants are then released back into the larger room where they’re free to chat with the other characters or grab a custom cocktail (which was fantastic!) at the bar. And each character was a hoot: ready to field any response with some pretty impressive improv.

Usually, with a modified sandbox format like this, some participants miss out on the full story. There’s just too much content, too little time, and not enough organization to make the entire thing work. You’re left with a sense of FOMO (which is by far my least favorite feeling in immersive) and a feeling that you’ve missed out on the real show. With BITE, the loose organization made me feel as if I saw every room and story point — and there was plenty to explore to keep my mind moving for the 90 minute period.

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Once we sat down for dinner — things started to fall apart, if only slightly. We were served Thai food, and, while delicious, seemed a bit odd in the home of vampires.

Eating with action had clearly become an issue for the production team. Even as the night began, we were encouraged to continue to eat even if there was action going on around the room. And that was my biggest hiccup — while eating, I felt like I was taken out of the narrative, and the dinner conversations were never engaging enough to suffice. With the performances, I had to look down to continue to eat my food and miss some of the action. Watch the performance, miss the food. Eat the food, miss the performance. A small annoyance — and not enough to fault an otherwise fun night — but something the creators could continue to think through if this is a format they want to continue exploring.

Overall, BITE delivers light immersive fare with some pretty impressive improv that is sure to delight those new to immersive theatre. It borrows tropes and techniques from other immersive shows, but does so with a sense of fun that allows the audience to dive in without hesitation. It’s not LA’s definitive show when it comes to immersive theatre — but BITE borrows from tried and true immersive tropes to deliver a show that’s an absolute blast.

BITE continues on Saturdays through November 30. Tickets are $75.

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