Immersive Review Rundown: Hit The Streets

Just a quick two-fer this week as we get ready to hop into a hammock for the four day weekend. (Actually we don’t have a hammock, although that would be nice.)

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Denver’s Chinatown: An Erasure — by Kai Lin & Kyle Albasi
Free; Denver, CO, Run Concluded

Much like Breathing Healing Into the Banks of Sand Creek — yet another look into the shameful past of Colorado’s white ancestors — this roaming, site-specific show led participants, on foot, to six different locations in downtown Denver with historical significance in the story of the anti-Chinese riot that decimated the city’s Chinatown on October 31, 1880.

Seeing a show in an uncontrolled environment like this can be not only chaotic and unpredictable, but also physically challenging due to weather and walking. Still, this site-specific format is quickly growing on me as an effective way to bridge the gap between the atrocities of our past and the world we live in today.

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The 90-minute show packed a real punch with a smorgasbord of immersive elements (such as the finale that had performers acting out a fight scene in the crosswalk at a right light) and impressive tech, like the augmented reality that showed, through the lens of my phone screen, what downtown Denver looked like in the late 1800’s. As I stood in a nondescript alley I’ve passed countless times before, the AR overlay brought the scene to life as I imagined what a vibrant cultural hub Denver’s Chinatown (also known as Hop Alley) once was.

Tell me about the senseless violence that occurred in Hop Alley from a random building or park somewhere in the city and I might file away some fuzzy details for future callback. But put me (literally) in the middle of Hop Alley today, show me what it used to look like back then, and use reenactments and technology as tools to reflect on what happened right where I’m standing? Now I have a special memory and connection to this location — one that I won’t soon forget, and will be compelled to share often. And isn’t that ultimately the goal when these kinds of sensitive topics are the subject of the art?

There’s something utterly sobering about standing upon the same ground where historical events took place, and then learning about them in that moment. Using immersive to share history without the significance of “place” is just creative storytelling. But tell that story from the same place where it happened decades or centuries before, and you have the makings of a truly memorable and contemplative experience.

— Danielle Riha, Denver Correspondent

Great Gotham Challenge 2024
$160–199; NYC; Run Concluded

Another year means another Great Gotham Challenge, the annual puzzle hunt which sends adventurers across NYC searching for puzzles integrated into the fabric of the city. When the normal sights and sounds of New York could hide secrets, teams find themselves paying closer attention and engaging with what might ordinarily be so much daily static.

Some years, a lack of distinction between puzzles and the city causes potential issues. This year, distractions from misidentified puzzles caused only mere embarrassment. Of course, we feel bad for the art gallery we pestered with calls thinking them to be a puzzle, only to hear an older man shout in the background if this was about “the f — — scavenger hunt again?” Still, the risk felt worth it in the ways we were encouraged to explore and engage.

More frustrating was elements that felt occasionally under-tested or poorly communicated to the actors. One puzzle that brilliantly involved overlaying a transparency on the landscape didn’t account for changing lighting obscuring clues, while another puzzle had a broken element that the actor on site didn’t identify as broken. These minor hiccups were all smoothed over with accommodating levels of bonus time subtracted from our finish time, making the race element of the day feel lower pressure, and the generous treats, including some luxurious bubble teas and delicious paletas. Additionally, accessibility was occasionally a problem, with some stairs and tight spaces that might have thwarted otherwise mobile participants.

We are left wondering, despite the thrilling race through the city, whether GGC might be well served exploring other structures than a race. Every time we ran into a hiccup of some sort, our frustration was primarily that we were burning daylight and other teams were pulling ahead. A little bit of relaxation to let us stop and smell the roses would have made the central aim of engaging with the city a little easier.

Overall though, occasional frustrations aside, we can’t complain at all. For an afternoon dashing around Chelsea with friends, solving puzzles and finding magic in the mundane sights of a day in NYC, it was a resounding success. Resting with a drink at the finish line, looking out over the city, we couldn’t help but smile, and that smile is why we’ll come back year after year.

— Blake Weil, East Coast Editor at Large

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