Review Rundown: The One With Headsets & Cocktails

NYC and London are our IRL destinations this week as Company XIV kicks the tires on their new digs in Bushwick with some circus and burlesque, while The Vault Festival continues and Ellery finds herself shrunk down to the size of a bloodcell. Meanwhile, in cyberspace (we can bring that back now, yeah?) Patrick tackles two very different kinds of VR theatre experiences.

What do you mean no one remembers Innerspace? Kids these days.

Looking for more? Last week’s Review Rundown “The One With Ghostbusters and Ghost Reefs” brings something strange to the neighborhood.

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Cocktail Magique by Company XIV
$135-$795; Cocktail Magique Theatre, 17 Wyckoff Street, Brooklyn, NY, 11237; Through August 20th, 2023

Cocktail Magique is a circus and burlesque experience created by Company XIV taking place at their new venue in Bushwick. The performance is largely a rotation of different acts and tricks, but includes audience participation throughout. The acts include burlesque, bottle walking, singing, sword swallowing, and of course, magic. The show’s themes revolve around cocktails and champagne, which the audience gets to partake in from time to time along with some light snacks. The atmosphere is well curated and feels just like a sultry salon or speakeasy of the days of yore — the vibe is definitively hedonistic merriment.

While the show is well produced and a great joy to experience, I wouldn’t call this fully immersive. The magic acts in the show call for audience participation and audience members get to drink cocktails related to the show and respond to performer call outs, but none of the participation is particularly meaningful or intimate. We did get to experience the highest tier of ticket which includes a private tarot card reading for two, which felt very immersive, but only for those willing to shell out $795. A handful of well curated and thoughtful moments like this throughout the experience would make it a swift sell for immersive aficionados.

Cocktail Magique is filled to the brim with wondrous surprises, clever design, and incredibly talented performers. I laughed, I cringed, I gasped, I marveled, I nibbled a banana out of a performer’s crotch, what more could you ask for? For those looking for more of a stay in your seat but feel very included kind of experience, I do highly recommend it, but feel free to go for the cheap seats.

— Allie Marotta, New York City Curator

Non-Player Character — The Jigsaw Ensemble and Onboard XR
PWYC — $10; In-Person (St. Louis, MO) & Remote (VR & Web Browser); Through March 17th

Currently featured in the XR Live Performance Exhibition, Non-Player Character is an experience allowing audiences to participate either in-person (specifically St. Louis for this iteration) or in VR headsets and Web Browsers. For those attending online, OnboardXR both hosts and co-presents this musical comedy in conjunction with The Jigsaw Ensemble.

After a rousing overture, the audience meets an egocentric Hero Character, who after onboarding them into his video game, is killed. This leaves a lowly and lonely Non-Player Character to take charge. Convinced the only way to save the day is to revive the Hero Character, the Non-Player Character and audience set out on an adventure learning about inner courage and self-compassion.

As Non-Player progresses, the weaker its narrative grows. Part of this is the story, relying on well-worn tropes about lacking confidence. There’s no new take present, preventing any meaningful engagement. The other part is the tone, as Non-Player parodies video games and their culture. There are clever bits, but otherwise who or what is being made fun of is too broad, a lack of specifics stifling the humor. Furthermore, the video game concept is seemingly abandoned by the end.

As for the VR environments, they’re a mixed bag. There’s a massive forest, but action is centralized to one small patch. Additionally, while in an internal organ, the audience can move anywhere, but there’s nothing worth exploring. Yet, there’s a fantastic maze, its walls looming high and its practical design being enjoyably challenging. And there’s a wondrous touch of accessibility, as the walls are made of ice. Being able to look through the walls, seeing other audience members, creates great tension in being so close, yet so far.

Yet, the reason to see Non-Player is Brendan Bradley. His multi-faceted performance is delightful, hilarious, and heartwarming. I’m smiling, if not laughing, at Bradley’s witty and playful improvisation with the audience. Most importantly, Bradley’s musical chops are impressive, nailing everything from massive showstoppers to heartfelt soliloquies. Each song is performed with true showmanship energy, keeping me enthralled and elevating the material.

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Related, the musical arrangement of Maurice Soque Jr. is tremendously stunning. In playing several instruments, Soque Jr.’s playing is the beating heart that keeps me bopping along throughout Non-Player. Somebody call Columbia Records and get him a record deal, quick!

While not breaking newground technically or narratively, the performance and music in Non-Player Character will have you tapping your toes and clapping along in VR and IRL.

– Patrick B. McLean, Chicago Curator

Find WiiLii — Episode 1: The Gate-Crasher — GiiÖii in collaboration with Ferryman Collective
SXSW Badge Holders; Remote (VR Headset); Through March 14th

Presented as part of this year’s South by Southwest (SXSW) Festival, Find WiiLii — Episode 1: The Gate-Crasher is a live VR experience performed in VRChat. Originally created by the South Korean company GiiÖii, the American company Ferryman Collective has adapted the experience for English-speaking audiences.

In a possible future, teleportation devices created by the mysterious tech company lioiig allow for travel to extremely remote, rural areas. Yet teleportation is risky, with five percent of people losing random memories when traveling. Those memories become “Wayward Intellectual Information Logistically Integrated Instances” or WiiLii, statue-like in their appearance. As new employees tasked with collecting WiiLiis, the audience becomes privy to lioiig’s secretive agenda regarding the lost memories.

Firstly, Find WiiLii’s VR environments are some of the most engrossing, fully realized ones I’ve encountered to date. Size and scope are used to stunning effect, fostering not only variety and accessibility in what VR can accomplish, but dramatically intensifying the narrative. During the experience’s climax, with chasing characters up a large, twisting staircase, WiiLiis are dramatically and tragically posed. At the top of the stairs, I look back seeing a haunting tableau of a fractured family, falling apart into the far distance. Additionally, color is dynamically used. WiiLiis are red and silver, popping out against the muted browns and soothing teals of the environments.

Breathing further life into Find WiiLii are its fantastic performances. When I attended, Dasha Kittredge and Jacob Miller served as the two leads. These veteran immersive theatre performers masterfully used their movements to heighten action and improvisation skills to keep wily audience members focused. In particular, I’m deeply moved by the pain of loss Miller exudes in the finale. Also, for their directorial debut, Whitton Frank hits it out of the park, especially regarding the staging during key plot points.

But I have mixed feelings about Find WiiLii’s script. The discussions of memories and ownership are heady, but accessible. Yet, there’s a lot of tech jargon and corporate intrigue abounds. The audience is asked to parrot those details back constantly, keeping us focused on them rather than any thematic ideas. Additionally at the end, there’s a question of “Did any of that actually happen?” that feels tantamount and central to Find WiiLii, but is rushed through, falling flat. Find WiiLii feels jammed packed with too many ideas competing for attention.

Even with these textual issues, Find WiiLii is an utterly captivating and mindful VR experience, pulling the audience in through its fantastic world and rich performances.

– Patrick B. McLean, Chicago Curator

The War Inside–Camille Dawson
Tickets from 8 GBP; VAULT Festival London. Run concluded

When I was a kid, my family went to Disney World, and I fell a bit in love with the rides of EPCOT. Specifically, there was one called Cranium Command, which followed the adventures of a fellow called Buzzy who was in charge of piloting a high school student’s brain, while dealing with input from the other organs. Sadly, the ride is no longer running, but I loved it so much. As such, when I attended The War Inside, the Cells at Work-meets-Darkfield experience at the Vaults, and was reminded of nothing so much as this defunct but much-beloved ride, I was delighted.

This audio-based experience invites guests into a pod whose gauzy red interiors suggest a living organ, and presents them with a headset and (optional) blindfold. What follows is an audio experience following the experience of a white blood cell newly drafted into the Immune System Army, who’s determined to make a mark and prove as vital as the major organs. Intercut with this adventure is audio of the body this cell inhabits–a 16-year-old girl dealing with repeated chronic illness flare-ups.

For a show about something as challenging as physical disability and chronic illness, The War Inside is surprisingly cheerful–and utterly charming. The voice actors in the audio give each character, from the brain and the liver to a rogue blood cell who hangs out at a bar in the intestines, depth and personality, leading to several surprisingly moving moments in the 30-minute production. The set design also managed to make the most of a small space, allowing the audience to feel transported even within the confines of a shipping container pressed into service by the Vault Festival.

The War Inside is funded by Arts Council England, and plans are already underway for a longer-running, larger production of it this fall, including a larger physical exhibit space. I, for one, can’t wait.

— Ellery Weil, London Correspondent

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