Review Rundown: The One That Looks To The Past and Parallel Presents

Every time we get to go somewhere new and check out a company we’ve been watching from afar I get excited. Which is why I was very happy when Allie — who is taking over the duties of New York Curator, filling shoes that have been worn by Zay, Kathryn, and Blake — pinged me on Slack while I was in DENVER for the Denver Immersive Gathering to let me know that she was in NEW ORLEANS and had snagged a ticket to Goat in the Road’s The Family Line, which we were currently featuring on the front page of Everything Immersive.

Sometimes it takes getting the team out of town(s) to make it all work just right.

Anyhow: more on The DIG (from my POV) in an editorial later this week (evening???). We’ve also got TWO from Edward (without whom we’d be lost), one from Patrick (who is vexed by the USPS), and London dispatches from Ellery and Rodrick (both of whom are knocking it out of the park on the writing, if I, their editor, may be so bold as to suggest.)

(Can y’all tell I had a REAL GOOD TIME at The DIG?)

Want even more reviews? Well the Rundown that was (supposed to be, you’ll see) Spooky Season 2022’s Swan Song is haunting Medium’s servers *spooky voice* over heeeeeere.

Are you a creator who looks upon these reviews with envy? Okay, the positive ones, at least? Then you might want to check out our How To Get Covered By NoPro guide. Want to get listed in our newsletter and have your event shared with our social media following? Submit a listing to Everything Immersive.

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Alcotraz London–Inventive Productions
Tickets from 36.99 GBP; London, UK; Through December 2023

They should have sent a European. That was the thought that kept bubbling to the surface of my increasingly tipsy brain as I experienced Alcotraz, a prison-themed immersive cocktail experience which, while generally entertaining, was deeply, deeply strange.

Guests enter the experience having been “reassigned” to the notorious Alcatraz prison after their attempted escapes from less-secure facilities. You will be required to “smuggle in” a bottle of liquor, and be outfitted with a (in my case spectacularly ill-fitting) orange jumpsuit before being led to your “cell” (complete with bed and toilet), where you’ll meet the prison’s cast of characters and begin your light scheming and heavy drinking.

Regarding the characters: these include guards, fellow prisoners, a corrupt warden–one might say the Usual Suspects. For those even moderately familiar with the history of Alcatraz, you may wonder why everyone in Northern California seems to have an accent like Foghorn Leghorn, but some things are best left unquestioned.

In fact, Alcotraz works best when you stop thinking too hard and roll with it. Leave aside questions about whether a quirky cocktail bar based around the notoriously brutal US prison system is in good taste, and focus on the fact that the cocktails (custom-designed to your preferences) taste very good indeed. Lean into the silliness of the “parole interviews” and plot to bring down the warden. At my interview, when asked about my stated crimes as a cat burglar, I clarified that I dressed up as a cat “to steal things.” I was quite sensibly referred for a psychological evaluation.

It should be noted that, at four cocktails a head in two hours, with no food in sight, Aloctraz is not for the faint of liver. My guest and I were exceedingly jolly after we “escaped.” Was it from the experience? From sheer tipsiness? Probably a bit of both. But hey–a smile is a smile, right?

–Ellery Weil, London Correspondent

A Most Postal Correspondence — Project_Infinite_Architect
$86.66; Remote (At-home box); Run Concluded

For the ten weeks leading up to Halloween weekend, participants of A Most Postal Correspondence would receive a letter-sized envelope each week. They were typically golden brown in color, occasionally adorned with drawings or stickers. Upon opening the envelope, there’d usually be a correspondence from one of two characters, a puzzle to decode, an assortment of originally designed ephemera, and real world tchotchkes.

Unfortunately there was an external element with Postal Correspondence that undermined narrative momentum and audience interaction: the postal service. While envelopes arriving anywhere between Saturday and Wednesday was manageable and understandable, oftentimes they came in groups. All envelopes were postmarked differently, suggesting it was a delivery issue rather than when the envelopes were sent.

When envelopes came in groups, the agency offered to participants by Postal Correspondence was constantly stripped away. As a real example, I’d read a correspondence from one character imploring me to report the actions of the second. But when opening the next envelope mere minutes later, the second character would beg me to keep their actions secret. Any opportunity to engage emotionally or dramatically became lost, forcing me to take on an incredibly removed, distant observer role.

Yet even with passive involvement, receiving and exploring each envelope was a nerve-racking, frightening affair. Several envelopes were sealed with a mysterious yet thoughtful prompt or dire warning written upon them. After mustering the nerve to open them, envelopes were constantly filled with two fantastic recurring elements. One was a tiny Polaroid picture with text and drawings added to them and the other being easy to mildly hard messages to decode within documents. The otherworldly iconography and messages in these elements was bone chilling, especially when paired with the overarching “The Truth Is Out There” narrative.

Also, key envelopes include a QR code to either a video or audio clip online. The videos, made for Postal Correspondence, were conspiracy theories consisting of terrifying images and discerning sounds. The production value was stunning, equal to any Hollywood film in distilling terror. Plus, as the videos were on Youtube, the algorithm began to push other, real conspiracy theories videos, thus “legitimizing” Postal Correspondence’s ones.

While immersive creators and audiences might be ready for expansive and ambitious weekly delivered physical experiences like A Most Postal Correspondence at home, unfortunately the postal service is currently not.

– Patrick B. McLean, Chicago Curator

The Family Line — Goat in the Road
$40; New Orleans LA, through November 20th

The Family Line is a sandbox style scripted performance taking place in the courtyard and surrounding areas of the historic BK Building in the heart of the French Quarter. The piece follows a real life historical family, the Giaconas, and their neighbors as they navigate the Strike of 1816 in which Black and Italian immigrants banded together to resist the unfair inflation of wholesale goods.

The show is essentially a scripted proscenium piece that moves around the space as spectators are kept behind the fourth wall. However, the ability to traverse the space and “choose your own adventure” creates a more immersive feel. The venue is also historically accurate to the story, making this site specific piece’s environment feel particularly immersive. Although I would have liked some sort of meaningful acknowledgement of the audience or an indication of a heightened purpose for the spectators to be present, I did find the production to be very well done. The performers are excellent and highly compelling, and the script is engaging. My main critique is that the script seems almost like a vignette of the full story — the whole thing runs about 40 minutes and then loops back to the beginning for a second run. I didn’t find the venue or the story complex enough to really require a second loop to catch everything (plus, part of the wonderful intrigue of immersive is the sense of mystery in not being able to see everything), so I would have rather seen the story develop further. The source material is deep and rich and I was left wanting more.

What’s most admirable about this production though is that Goat in the Road is one of the only companies creating immersive work in New Orleans, and they’re doing it quite well. With a sold out run, I was lucky to get a ticket and was glad I did! Considering all the alluring nightlife and entertainment available on literally every corner, it’s heartening to see this company finding success.

— Allie Marotta, New York City Curator

The Lady in Greenpoint — Rick Paulus
Free; New York, NY; Ongoing

On a dark and spooky night, I began a walk through Greenpoint in search of ghosts. From first-time immersive creator Rick Paulus, comes an ambitious podplay experience, a three-mile walk through a Brooklyn neighborhood, and listening to a ghost story unfold around you. The story begins by following a woman who has moved to Greenpoint, and is exploring a mysterious ghostly shape she once saw.

Unfortunately, it quickly becomes apparent that the play isn’t entirely sure what it wants to actually be about or what it wants to say. World War 2, COVID, Breakups, gentrification, and prisoner-of-war camps, all become intermingled as we learn some of the history of the area and are introduced to characters. I wrongly assume that these must be based on some real life individuals, but upon completing the experience I am disappointed in how the play led me on to believe this. The podplay might touch on a theme, but will very quickly leave it behind, creating an awful audio whiplash effect, and a disappointing conclusion left us with a lot of questions.

There are issues too with the production itself. Separated into 46 chapters(!), each audio file varies between 7 minutes to less than 30 seconds, and each time one finishes I have to leave the world that has been set up around me, to go back to my phone to load up the next part. The near-constant backing out of the world really made it hard to connect fully to the story I was supposed to engage with. Sometimes audio instructions were well thought out, and music was provided to allow us to move through the area, but far too often these clips were absurdly and impossibly short to allow adequate movement and would leave us in complete silence.

Two stops in real-world bars provided a moment of respite in the middle of the experience, but the bars seemed to have no awareness that the production was using their facility. I also have an issue with the timing that the play asks audiences to follow, starting at dusk, which meant that it was well into the night and we were still going. Our experience took us well over 4 hours to complete, and it really is well over a 3-mile experience. At one point we are asked to get on the subway, to travel to one single stop. It was all simply too much, with nowhere near enough payoff to earn the time spent. Responsibility for audience safety is still a necessity that creators have to be aware of, even if producing a “self-guided” experience, and I have a concern here that someone less familiar with the area may quickly become disorientated (thanks to an inaccurate hand-drawn map which misaligned every page) and with a dead phone battery before too long.

By the end of the experience, we were tired, confused, and frankly upset at the waste of our evening. The team has taken inspiration from other creators but has tried to do far too much, without the appropriate amount of study into this unique medium to know how to create the experience. I hope that for the creator, and any brave audiences, lessons can be learned from this experience.

— Edward Mylechreest, New York City Correspondent

Masque of the Red Death — Envoute Entertainment
$120 General Admission, $200 VIP; Collingswood, NJ; Show Concluded

When you’re a theatre critic, and you don’t pay for things, it’s very easy to enjoy yourself. If a burlesque company wants to provide you with an evening of wine, women, and song, all wrapped up in a spooky Edgar Allen Poe package, who are you to say no? Throw in a four course dinner and the package is all the sweeter. That was The Masque of the Red Death, a burlesque-infused ball and interactive adventure built around the classic tale.

Of course, things are harder to enjoy when you’ve paid upwards of $120 dollars to attend. Maybe you can’t laugh off the fact that the advertised four course meal is actually five different bite-sized ways of preparing starch. Admittedly, our long VIP banquet table was cackling, starving and wine drunk, as plate number three, polenta, was brought out, but I digress.

Truthfully, many advertised elements didn’t seem to materialize, such as the champagne wall, whatever that may be, or much of anything to do in the mysterious “black room” other than observe a maid mumble snippets of “The Tell Tale Heart”. The gameplay was certainly fun enough, chasing coins and tarot cards through interactive missions that took you all over the venue. However, with most missions being seemingly improvised, and no clear overarching goal other than hoarding as many resources as you can, they felt pointless. Missions and performances alike were often sparse; there was quite frequently little to do save for return to the bar.

This lack of clarity led to immense trouble midway through the show, as one of the more successful features, a casino room, had to close suddenly due to a daring, unscripted robbery by one of the guests who ran off with a haul of all the plastic coins that comprised the vault. While they were returned after an out of character announcement that the thief would be ejected immediately if they were found holding the bag, with no opening instructions at all, a theft like that feels inevitable.

So amidst the chaos, what’s a critic to do? Have fun! He’s to eat his $200 polenta square, dance to spooky waltz music in his formal wear, have a glass of wine, have three Shirley Temples because he’s driving, and make an imaginary killing at the baccarat table. For the price of being a critic, what a blast! But for the average reveler, I can only imagine disappointment.

I recommend Envoute ensure they have a full script and clearer vision before producing their next show of this magnitude. Envoute seems more than capable of producing something grand; they just need the focus to be able to consistently deliver and match the premium price they’re commanding.

–Blake Weil, East Coast Editor at Large

The McKittrick Halloween Ball: The Lost Garden — The McKittrick Hotel
$139 and up; New York, NY; Run Concluded

No one does a Halloween party like The McKittrick does a Halloween party. All six floors of the infamous hotel are open for revelers to explore to their heart’s content, and while the usual inhabitants may not be present, there is still much to enjoy in the festivities. As a fan of the resident production, Sleep No More, it is still a delight to be able to peruse the space without the performance going on.

This year’s theme “The Lost Garden” invited our inner nature to be expressed. It’s a pretty loose theme, with each floor having the freedom to express itself in very different ways. One was a garden of Greek statues, while another was a garden of forbidden fruit for audiences to enjoy, and another was simply a dance floor of seemingly lost souls. The performers on each level are really the glue that maintains the cohesion between each floor.

Ball attendees were treated to a range of performances on each of the floors of the building, from DJs to big bands, and from go-go dancers to a string quartet playing disguised top twenty hits. Dancers were present too, delighting in their devious debauchery, and some light immersive interaction was available for the patient in the audience, albeit in the form of an invitation to consume a bespoke drink or two rather than a story-driven moment.

My bias of course wishes that there would be more story or immersive drama for audiences to enjoy. Still, the presence of amazing costumes, from the audience and cast alike, combined with dazzling performances, the inimitable set design, and a generous open bar, made this a fantastic Halloween trick for any New Yorker to know about. For those of us who have a special affinity for the venue, the cast, and the stories that usually roam these halls, the festivities were even more of a special treat.

— Edward Mylechreest, New York City Correspondent

Parallel People — Huldufugl
From £15; London, UK ; Run Concluded

If you have been to a virtual event in Tender Claws’ The Under Presents or seen a performance in VRChat you’ll already have a good idea of what to expect from Parallel People. Anyone less experienced in VR need only know that, in the same vein as these other platforms, you and the other participant will be thrust into a virtual world where you will interact with each other and one or more performers. These types of experiences are often delivered in-home but Huldufugl has chosen, in this instance, to present this work as a location based experience (LBE).

This leaves room for them to interrogate specific parts of the nature of current VR technology. To begin with, the audience are ushered into two by two metre squares, the exact minimum recommended size for the Meta Quest guardian system. The offer of safety afforded by the guardian feature of these headsets is echoed in the core question of Parallel People, would you rather absolute safety or absolute freedom? This is the question posed by the actor playing the ‘Caretaker’, who wanders around the many boxes of safe keeping that contain us, the audience. If we agree to stay within the protective confines of our cubes we are promised wondrous adventures for which we can go anywhere, though we will only get to enjoy up to 2m2 of it.

Soon a second voice of authority appears and brings with it an element of social intrigue. We do not know who owns this voice, nor who else it calls to, but it compels us to rebel, which I found to be an appealing catalyst. With this stage set the remaining runtime time follows the lines of a standard participatory show, with all the boons and banes that entails. We are expected to generate the bulk of the performance through our interactions in response to sparsely sprinkled revelations, like a slightly spotty murder mystery game.

A clever conclusion brings the whole event roundly back to its core question, as we sit (if we chose to do so) in our new found freedom with no idea how to use it. This message might be left on the boil just a moment too long, as the same technical limitations that are lampooned early mean that although the cube is gone, we are still inside a box.

— Roderick Morgan, London Correspondent

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