Two-Day Immersive Show ‘The Curious Voyage’ To Transport Attendees, Literally (Q&A)

This spring, ten different experiential, site-specific and immersive performances will pop-up across two cities — Toronto and Barrie—in a brand new festival. WOW runs from March 19 to May 17 and tickets range from $15 — $180 per performance. The collection of experiences that make up The WOW Collection come from Canadian immersive companies like Talk Is Free Theatre (TIFT), Zuppa Theatre, TranscenDance Project, and DLT Experience.

The WOW Collection also features a new version of TIFT’s ambitious multi-day immersive experience The Curious Voyage, a two-day-long immersive journey that begins in one city and ends in another, culminating in a secret site-specific musical. This will be the North American premiere of the experience, which previously traveled to London from Canada.

We grabbed some time with Creative Producer Arkady Spivak (and, briefly, Director Daniele Bartolini) to learn more.

No Proscenium (NP): Tell us about yourself and your background in making immersive work.

Arkady Spivak (AS): I have been running Talk Is Free Theatre now for 18 years. We started in Barrie, Ontario in 2003 where, at that time, there was no permanent performance space for grassroots creation. Sometimes, I would announce a full subscription season only to learn that our intended venue would be demolished and is no longer available for our dates. That forced us to use, on several occasions, site-specific venues and to reinterpret the way we presented theatre. I guess you can say, we have stumbled on immersive theatre largely by necessity.

NP: What exactly is The Curious Voyage? How did the idea come about?

AS: The Curious Voyage is a two-day long immersive journey. Of course, the last version was the three-day long narrative which started in Barrie and ended, quite literally, in London, UK. But as they say in theatre “stories can always get tighter.” The Curious Voyage is again an exploration on how much we are shaped by who we are, and how much by the circumstance. It asks some weighty questions. But what it also does, as our creator Daniele Bartolini feels, is form people into a micro-community they no longer really have easily. This is because social media is making us all, quite ironically, more isolated and lonely. Did you know that the UK now has the Minister of Loneliness? What would qualifications be for a job like that?

The idea for The Curious Voyage came from me. I was in Australia five years ago (incidentally, where I am again with three touring productions as I write this). I was inspired by this country enough to wonder if I could come back as part of the multi-day performance that took the audience across the continents. In fact, my first version of The Curious Voyage started in Australia. So when people told me they found going to the UK as part of the narrative immense, I actually felt that I was holding something back. Again, “stories can always get tighter.”

NP: Without giving too much away, how will the participants know when they’re “in” the experience? What kind of story will they find themselves in?

AS: You are in the experience pretty much throughout, unless you are told that this is a meal-break or that you are in for the night. We certainly make sure everyone is aware at all times.

NP: How immersive and interactive is this experience?

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AS: Significantly so. We create a story based on who each patron is or what they bring. Daniele refers to it as Audience-Specific theatre, created uniquely for each and every audience member. So active participation is key. Having said this, the important distinction of our practice is that this is not audience participation. We never put people on display or make fun of them for the comedic benefit, intended for a laughing cruel audience. What we do is in fact the opposite — everything and everyone on your journey exists and is intentionalized in service of your story. And each participant is the star.

NP: What kinds of decisions or choices can participants make along the way? What kinds of scenarios might they find themselves in?

Daniele Bartolini (DB): The narrative I am creating asks directly to the audience where they want to stand in the story they’re taking part in, to take responsibility for it. The more you are willing to take responsibility, the better your experience and the more you unlock exciting content.

As the creator of the experience, I am mostly interested in exploring the role of the audience, specifically in them being brave and being rewarded during the experience for their bravery. At a certain point the audience is almost asked: do you want to be good or bad? I’m really keen to see what the audience is going to choose at that point…

I might invite the audience to plan a fun heist/robbery in a very special location. I also might ask the participants to help a young filmmaker shooting her first feature film. The audience also might find themselves lost in an abandoned space while searching for a key character to the story…

NP: What’s been the audience response to the previous iterations of this production, like in London, for example?

AS: People felt absolutely transformed by the power of their own stories. They also enjoyed meeting and sharing this experience with total strangers. We all felt glorified when they exchanged phone numbers at the end of three days. Someone in the “audience” gave a sweater to someone else in their group. What was the last time any one of us had received a sweater from a total stranger?

NP: What kind of planning and logistics go into something like this? How do you keep track of all the moving parts?

AS: The key is to find three people who are equally insane and defy categorization in every way, much like the experience itself. They are first and foremost Executive Producer Sara Schwartz Geller. There is no way any of this would ever see any light without this uniquely gifted professional. Creator and developer of the experience Daniele Bartolini and director Mitchell Cushman certainly complete that trio.

NP: What do you hope attendees come away from the experience feeling?

AS: I want more people to realize they are artists. Not because they have to feel the need to perform or paint for a living, or even for fun. But they need to rediscover, and better yet — to embrace, their unique thought process, their soul and their exceptionality. Above all, I really want people to rediscover the sense of wonder they last knew as children. Becoming children is what makes us indispensable, you know.

The Curious Voyage runs March 18 — April 11. Tickets are $180 ($300 double occupancy) and include one night’s hotel stay.

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