Review Rundown: The One You’ll Read By Order of the Peaky Blinders

This week on the Rundown you’ll find a big production from Immersive Everywhere that brings a hit Netflix show to life (practically a sub-genre of immersive), a long running LARP that imagines a post-zombie apocalypse world, and the latest phone experience from Candle House Collective that just might be more than it seems on first blush.

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Honors Fall — Dystopia Rising New York
$65; New York, NY; Run Concluded

Cad Berry, a new fish in town, makes his way down the street passing the Wilted Rose bar, the morgue, and the post office on his way to the Bacchanal, in celebration of the upcoming Honors Fall festivities. I look through his eyes, and soak in all that surrounds me, as someone runs into the room and yells, “Look out, Zombies to the west!”

Dystopia Rising is an ongoing immersive boffer-style LARP with chapters throughout the post-apocalyptic United States including Requiem, the New York chapter, which takes place in an old scout camping ground upstate. Characters are free to travel between events, taking their gained knowledge and skills with them, as they continue the fight against raiders, and research into the destructive undead “Z”.

Running for over a decade now, this LARP has a dedicated following of players, many of whom have travelled from afar to reach this special event, Honors Fall, where all the rules that the families and alliances of Requiem have created, disappear for one night only. Much of the politics of the weekend went over this new players head, but I found myself delighting in the moments of chaos, panic and fear as we combatted against those who would stand against us, both other players and NPC’s.

As an immersive experience, every moment of every hour is considered in-game, and so while there was precious little rest, the connection with this fallen world was both immediate and strong. While certainly not easy to jump into at first, given the surplus of rules and world building that is part of Dystopia Rising, the amount of support given by other players and organizers to ensure that “new fish” have a positive experience albeit in a terrible place, meant that I left feeling fulfilled in my own confusion, eager to learn more.

Cad discovered much about the town of Requiem this past weekend, and Edward is ready to return to discover more about himself very soon… provided he doesn’t get eaten of course.

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— Edward Mylechreest, New York City Correspondent

Lennox Mutual — Candle House Collective
PWYC or $20; Remote (Telephone);
Through Sept. 9 With Possible Extensions

Lennox Mutual is here to “help you make the most of the time you have — no strings attached.” This phone-based show is framed as a customer service session to determine your eligibility for a mysterious program. Or maybe a product. It might be life insurance? Whatever it is, you definitely want it and should probably schedule your call today. I did, and it put me into a state of supreme conflict: was this a mystery I wanted to unravel or a frustrating meditation on free will?

I spent my call toddling through a phone tree that cheerfully answered neither of those questions. I didn’t learn anything about the company Lennox Mutual and I wasn’t able to make an appointment. Twenty minutes went by too quickly, so I fought my annoyance and booked a second call. This time, my customer service rep seemed less intent on blocking progress. Some of the choices I had made in call one carried over, and I was rewarded with just enough implied narrative to get me hooked. I usually avoid investing in long-form shows that don’t have a clear pay-off, but Candle House’s stellar reputation makes it easier to have faith. My third call is scheduled for September.

Individually, Lennox Mutual calls are enjoyably unsettling. They feel like benign corporate non-interactions, where you’re the only one who realizes that all the details are off. Put the pieces together, though, and it’s clear that something bigger is going on. On Reddit, a small group of repeat callers are starting to share theories, clues, and weird epithets given to them by customer service representatives. None of us know where this is going. All we know is that it’s exciting to get in on the ground floor of something so strange, there’s more story to tell, and we’re doing everything we can (in and out of the system) to spend our time wisely.

— Leah Davis, New England Curator

Peaky Blinders: The Rise — Immersive Everywhere
£45–£109.50; London, UK; Through Feb. 12, 2023

Fandom is a funny thing. To be a part of it is often to create controversy, and to delight in the seemingly minor. Fandom can mean community, and community norms. As a fan of Peaky Blinders, I entered Peaky Blinders: The Rise with certain expectations. I was not disappointed.

The audience enters Tommy Shelby’s 1921 “family meeting” through a converted warehouse in Camden, where the tone is immediately set. “Money” is pressed into hands, identities and passwords are given, and my guest (not a fan herself) and I were instantly charmed.

What happens once you’ve entered, and perhaps purchased a drink from one of several bars, will depend on your own choices. The Shelby family of gangsters and their associates will describe the “plan” (a somewhat convoluted takeover of London’s organized crime), but then you’re free to explore, scheme, gamble, flirt, and steal as you see fit. Tommy Shelby may be more of an immersive theatre fan than we know, as he tells the audience “fortune favors the brave.”

The show is not for minors, or those uncomfortable with loud noises, swearing, and violence, as the trigger warnings provided helpfully note. For those who come along, they will find, among other things: dancing, boxing, palmistry, a secret nightclub, WW1 flashbacks, suspicious Americans (myself not withstanding), jazz, romance, jealousy, and an infectious soundtrack.

The cast throws themselves into embodying the roles, and work admirably to draw in those who are unfamiliar with the source material. My non-fan guest followed along perfectly.

The show is not flawless — a plot involving collecting money fizzles, and the quiz I completed beforehand was mostly aesthetic. Nor is it “high art.” But Peaky Blinders: The Rise is, as the Shelbys would say, “a bloody good time,” and for that it should be celebrated.

– Ellery Weil, London Correspondent

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