A weekly feature pointing you towards the current experiences that have people talking.
For people who think anyone who doesn’t love Immersive has got some 'splainin' to do...
Club Babalu [LOS ANGELES]
Cinereal Productions, the established immersive company known for NYC’s The Unbrunch, sets up shop in Hollywood offering a backstage pass to a side-splittingly seductive good time. It’s 1957 and you are an extra on the set of America’s favorite sitcom “Welcome to Woodvana” as they film on their Club Babalu nightclub set. Participants are free to stay in their seats and take in the acts performed onstage as part of the show within the show, or get up and explore what other stories may be unfolding around set during the cast and crew’s downtime. With a heavily themed and decorated space, a bevy of live variety and burlesque performances, and a pair of characters strangely reminiscent of another iconic sitcom couple, Club Babalu hopes audiences get carried away by the joy and nostalgia of a shared experience that revels in a bygone age that made this city what it is today.
Why we think you’ll love it: With plenty to take in for both passive theatre goers and people who prefer to keep that fourth wall broken, this promises to be a fun and engaging night anyone (21 and older) can enjoy.
For people who always thought what ASMR was really missing was arm restraints…
The Smile Off Your Face [AMSTERDAM and COPENHAGEN]**
Ontroerend Goed, a Belgian performance art company known for coaxing strong emotions from its audience in unexpected ways, reimagines a piece they originally debuted in the early 2000’s as part of an award-winning Edinburgh Fringe run and a London transfer that The Guardian named one of the fifty best theatre performances of the 21st Century. In this singular experience for one participant you will be blindfolded and bound in a wheelchair as your remaining senses are left to the whims and indulgences of your unseen host. While your time together never veers into the realm of extreme horror one might fear in such a compromising position, this is nevertheless an exploration of trust and the intimacy that can form between two people when one submits completely to the other.
Why we think you’ll love it: Revived and updated over a decade later for these uncertain times, this experience has already left an indelible mark on scores of audience members across the globe. After your session in the chair that reviewers have equated with a type of therapy as much as theatre, there is no telling exactly what sort of reaction you’ll have, but it’s bound to be something big.
For people who think they can avoid paying their tab until the bar shuts down...
The Haunting of Susan A [LONDON]**
A site-responsive play with nearly five hundred years of history on site to respond to, British Vogue highlighted “Susan A” as one of London Theatre’s can’t miss events a full two months before opening. Devised by Mark Ravenhill, legendary modern playwright and co-artistic director of the King’s Head Theatre, audiences will be treated to a ghost story in the classic London Gothic tradition in a building as likely as any to be haunted by a theatre-going specter or two. The King’s Head Tavern, home to the theatre company beginning 1970, has been serving pub patrons since the year 1543; an appropriately weighty historical setting for a piece of theatre meditating on, in their own words, “the power of the mind to make the unseen visible and for the cruelty of the past to haunt a room.”
Why we think you’ll love it: While “site-responsive” is a gray area in the immersive space, the history of the venue coupled with the caliber of the production team promise a spine-tingling evening only a few convenient steps from your next drink.
**These listings were suggested by community members Corinna Green and Blake Weil, respectively. Thanks, Corinna! Thanks, Blake!
Have an upcoming/ongoing immersive experience that has you buzzing? Point it out to us through pitches@noproscenium.com with the subject line "Trailheads" and we might include it in the next issue!