Tag: immersive theatre

Immersive theatre in NYC (2025)

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I wrote quite a while ago (2014, 11 years ago!) about immersive theatre in general. At the time, Sleep No More was going strong, as was The Drowned Man (also by Punchdrunk, the OG of immersive theatre – and to be clear, I mean original GOAT, not Opera Ghost) in London, Then She Fell in Brooklyn, and Queen of the Night in midtown. The two Punchdrunk shows were what I think of as “choose your own adventure” shows, where you wander a space freely and in effect direct your own version of the theatrical experience. Then She Fell was controlled, with viewers ushered into a series of rooms to experience a story. And Queen of the Night had some opportunities to be taken off into different rooms (“one-on-ones”) but the bulk of the evening involved sitting at tables watching a show, and perhaps bartering with other tables for better food.

What a difference a decade (plus) has made! Sleep No More closed at the very beginning of 2025, having struggled after covid lock down (a free-flowing experience like that was even harder to adapt to early covid restrictions once theatre began to re-emerge in September of 2021), and being unable to pay rising rents. (Sleep No More does still have productions currently running in Shanghai and Seoul, who wants to go with me?) The Drowned Man closed (the space it was in near Piccadilly was redeveloped) and Punchdrunk purchased their own space in Woolwich (easily accessible from central London on the new Elizabeth line). Since then they had one traditional show, based loosely on stories in ancient Greece, The Burnt City – which has now also closed (but I was able to see it twice). They have since pivoted to trying one more controlled immersive theatrical experience (Viola’s Room – which is now in NYC, more about that later), and just announced Lander 23, which will merge video gaming with immersive theater.

Meanwhile, here in NYC Emursive (the producer but not the creator of Sleep No More) launched an ambitious “choose your own adventure” immersive experience in lower Manhattan last summer. Titled Life and Trust, it was loosely based on the story of Faust, but set just as the great stock market crash of 1929 was about to put an end to the roaring twenties. The set was enormous and detailed, and the story took place on five different levels. In addition to the Faust story (in this case, Conwell vs Mephisto), there were storylines for Oscar Wilde’s Dorian Gray, Evelyn Nesbit, and a host of new characters. There were many extraordinary scenes – two that took place in a boxing ring – and the finale was fantastic. It opened last summer and closed abruptly earlier this year. And I mean really suddenly! They had a show on Saturday night as usual and Sunday morning they took away all social media other than an announcement that they had closed. They certainly were having a hard time making this work financially, but the sudden closing also had me wondering if there was something else going on (because if you are losing money, announcing a closing can spur interest and increase sales, sometimes repeatedly). The people in charge have not made a statement about the closing (that I have heard) but many of the performers are holding a one night event on the Upper West Side next month to discuss the experience of developing and being in the show and I will be there. After this, I wonder if NYC will not see another large-scale traditional immersive theater experience for some time.

Some Broadway musicals have had an immersive element. In my post from 2014, I mention the musical Here Lies Love, with music by David Byrne (see above, he was on the floor for one of the shows I saw in 2023) and Fatboy Slim, about the life of Imelda Marcos. At that point it was a huge hit at the Public Theater, and in 2023 it moved to the Broadway Theatre. Staged with a dance floor where you could move around with performers within an innovative set, becoming part of the crowd in Manila, I loved it and experienced it multiple times. If you were on the floor the show was quite immersive, but there were also fixed seats where there was little immersion. It was not a financial success, closing after 33 previews and 149 regular performances. Currently on Broadway there is an semi-immersive version of Cabaret, which transferred from the West End last spring but has not been received as well here. It is closing in October (if not sooner). Staged in the round, there are cabaret seats at tables where you may have interactions with the actors. The most immersive part of this production of Cabaret occurs before the performance, when musical and dance shows take place all around the public areas of the theater.

One could argue that the famous outside walk taken by the actor playing Joe Gillis in the recent Tony-winning revival of Sunset BLVD, directed by Jamie Lloyd, had an interactive quality. I experienced it multiple times from W 44th Street or Shubert Alley (see below, and here for a photo montage, and here and here for video), as well as seeing the livestream during the several times I attended the musical. Lloyd’s current revival of Evita, almost certain to arrive on Broadway in the next few years, has a similar immersive element, when people outside the theatre become the people of Argentina listening to Eva Peron sing her most famous song.

As I mentioned before, Punchdrunk (the OG creator of true classic immersive theatrical experiences, such as Sleep No More) has a current show at the Shed, Viola’s Room. a smaller-scale work by Punchdrunk founder Felix Barrett that invites audience members to move through a labyrinthine installation inspired by Barry Pain’s 1901 gothic short story “The Moon-Slave,” as adapted by the British writer Daisy Johnson. Participants wear headphones and are guided through the 50-minute experience at the Shed via narration in the voice of Helena Bonham Carter. 

One of the more unusual things about Viola’s Room is that you experience it barefoot. There are places to clean and sanitize your feet before and after the experience. They will take your shoes and bags and put them in a box in your first room, and they are waiting for you when you enter the last room. In that first room, you will get headphones and test them out. You are with a small group of people, and instructions are to “follow the light” so you are led by light cues through a series of elaborate rooms that deepen the story being whispered in our ears by Helena Bonham Carter. There are some moments of total darkness, some areas that might bother people with claustrophobia, one instance of crawling (although we were asked in advance if that was doable so there must be an alternate route if it is not), and extremely varied floor surfaces. Like the larger scale Punchdrunk shows, there are scents that change between environments, to immerse multiple senses. Viola’s Room will be at The Shed until October 19th.

Perhaps the most buzzed about immersive theater taking place in New York City right now is Masquerade, a new immersive version of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera. Set in a completely transformed building that once was Lee’s Art Shop on West 57th Street, this is not a “choose your own adventure” wander but rather a guided experience through the story and songs, in small groups of 50-60 people per 15 minute “pulse.” There are six “pulses” or showtimes for every evening (and matinees on Saturday and Sunday), with different actors playing Phantom and Christine for each time slot.

The outside of the building has the windows covered in newspaper, and if you look closer you will see some articles about the original Broadway production of Phantom, and others reporting on the fictionalized goings on at the Opera Populaire that occur during the musical. You line up outside, and if you don’t already have a mask, you can be given one. I quite liked the provided one, it was comfortable, even under glasses, and has a little Phantom mask motif. At least for now, you are asked to dress up and wear black, white, or silver, and you will likely see some people extremely dressed up and wearing their own masks. It does make the entire experience a little more like an “event” to have most people dressed in cocktail (or even ballroom) attire, with the rest at least fairly nondescript in clothing. An important aspect, though, is footwear – stilettos and kitten heels are not allowed, and I recommend flats or even sneakers. This does lead to a certain feeling of disconnect, to be dressed up but wearing “sensible shoes” but the differing floor surfaces (including grates and escalators), sometimes in low light, really do require it. There are also times when you need to rush – more or less – from one room to the next, in a small crowd, and you really don’t need to be worrying about your footing at the same time.

Each time slot or pulse is let in at all at once, and there is no early or late entry, as another group will be experiencing the show just after you. Also, tickets are not resalable, in part because there are no tickets – you show ID that matches the name on the ticket purchase, and in addition you are sent a password the day before to the email used for purchase. While waiting outside, you might have a photographer come by (I did, but have heard of other dates that did not), and if so, you will receive an email later that is password protected by the same password you used for entry. You can download any photo they take at no charge (see mine below).

I don’t want to give too many details about the actual experience of being inside Masquerade, and no photos are allowed inside (all bags/coats need to be checked, which is at no charge, and a sticker is put over your phone camera if you have that on you). But I will say that it is the actual Andrew Lloyd Webber music, sung live with a prerecorded instrumental track. The musical has been cut a little, and a few things/songs from the Phantom movie musical added. The order of the story and some of the backstory are different from the original Broadway musical production. Sets and costumes are lavish, and it was thrilling for me to be in the middle of some of these iconic scenes. You are led from space to space, and no loitering or self-exploration is allowed. In terms of interactions, you might have a character address you, ask you to do something, dance with you, or become a supporting character (at one point Carlotta addressed me as Michaela, asked where I had been, and reminded me that I needed to follow her around with throat spray so that I could moisturize her vocal cords now and again – which I did for the rest of that scene). You might even be handed one of the Opera Ghost’s letters after someone had read it – Christine gave hers to me and the seal was thick red wax in the shape of a skull.

More practical issues: 1) You are less likely to be split up from anyone you have come with than in traditional immersive theatre. There is one time when your pulse gets divided up into three groups who each see all three scenes, but just in a different order. But the “butlers” there to move the crowd along seemed sensitive to keeping people from the same party together. 2) In most rooms there are at least some seats, and the butlers will direct people into seats until they are full. If you are the first in one room with a seat, you may be last out of that room and not get a seat. So plan on standing and moving a lot within the two hours. 3) The show is ADA compliant, and you need to contact the show in advance if accommodations are needed. From what I hear, there will be a butler assigned to help you get from place to place, using elevators, and will ensure that you don’t miss anything. 4) There is champagne when you first enter the space (and pro tip – if you drink your glass in that first room, they will refill it in the next room where it is needed for a toast), and you may be offered shots of something (whiskey? brandy?) in a later room, but there are also non-alcoholic options in both instances. 5) If the weather permits, there will be some scenes outside on the roof of the building, but there are alternate places to hold these scenes if the weather is inclement.

As you leave, there is an elaborately decorated bar space, and you are welcome to stay as long as you would like. You can go back to get your bags if needed and then return to the bar. There is also merch – of course! I found it useful to recap the show and process it a bit in the bar. I thoroughly enjoyed myself, and for me it worked both as someone who enjoys innovative and immersive experiences, and someone for whom the original POTO has a lot of nostalgic positive emotional valence.

As I started to write this post, inspired by exploring Viola’s Room and Masquerade this summer, I started to think more and more about what “immersive theatre” really even means. Certainly the classic Punchdrunk idea of wandering through an immense, richly detailed space, and coming in contact with performers you can choose to follow or not, is exceptionally immersive. Making your way through Viola’s Room while being guided by Helena Bonham Carter’s voice is very different, yet does immerse you into its storytelling world. So does Masquerade, even though your movement through the space and story is tightly controlled. I suppose the areas that are less clear involve a production spilling out into public areas, or having performers break the fourth wall by speaking to attendees. In the end, the definition matters less to me than the experience – and whenever I experience a sense of flow by losing myself in a story, I am immersed in it. This can happen even while sitting in a traditional theatre seat watching something on a  proscenium stage. However it presents, I enjoy experiencing complete immersion into a story, and I seek it out in whatever form it happens to take!

Immersive theatre

Published on by juliebrannan4 Comments

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The abundance of the arts is one of my favorite things about living in New York City, and attending theater performances is certainly near if not at the top of my list. I enjoy all kinds of theater – Broadway (of course), off-Broadway, off-off Broadway – and each type has its own unique charm. However, there is a more recent form of theater that is not for everyone, but which can provide a thrilling experience for those open to a less predictable encounter – immersive theatre.

The grand dame of the genre here in New York City has been intriguing theater goers in NYC since 2011 – Sleep No More, at the McKittrick Hotel, 530 W. 27th Street, in Chelsea. A free-form mash-up between Macbeth and Hitchcock movies (especially “Rebecca”), previous incarnations of this theatrical event were presented in London in 2003 and in Boston in 2009. Created by Punchdrunk, a British theatre company founded in 2000 by Felix Barrett, Sleep No More follows this company’s innovative structure (or lack thereof). In a Punchdrunk production, as an audience member you are free to wander around a large performance space, which is decorated elaborately with an astonishing level of detail (in fact, it could be considered an art installation in its own right) and can be explored at will.  The costumes, set design, and music reflect the 1920-30’s, except for when Bernard Herrmann’s themes from “Vertigo” or “The Man Who Knew Too Much” interject a sense of danger, or when the witches’ prophecy to Macbeth turns into an electronic dance rave. Those attending the performance are welcome to sit at a desk and read psychiatric notes at length from Lady’s Macbeth’s doctor, nibble on candies from a shop, get lost in a cemetery, or wander a maze near a nurse’s hut. What you are not allowed to do is to talk or show your face (the audience is distinguished from the actors by wearing white masks). However, there are also actors/dancers (it’s as much a modern dance performance as a theatrical one) roaming the five floors and you can choose to follow one throughout an entire loop (a performance is comprised of three repeating hours with a finale), or change your mind and decide to follow another character they interact with. This freedom of choice sums up the thrill of immersive theatre, but also why it is overwhelming for some: the three hours you spend within the McKittrick will be yours to control. As opposed to traditional theatre where a director has decided how to present the theatrical experience to you, in Punchdrunk’s version of immersive theatre, you largely direct the experience yourself. If you go many times (and I have!), you have the capacity to create a unique experience for each of those times. As you are admonished when you enter, “fortune favors the bold,” and the greater your willingness to open unlocked doors or be led into a private area for a one-on-one experience with one of the actors, the deeper your enjoyment of the experience will be.

Punchdrunk currently has a different production running in London, near Paddington Station, called The Drowned Man. Based loosely on elements of Georg Büchner’s unfinished play, “Woyzeck,” as well as Nathanael West’s “Day of the Locust,” this production exists on a more epic scale from Sleep No More, within several floors of a very large building (previously a mail sorting facility). The theme of duality pervades the experience, which takes place at the wrap party of a film shoot at the fictional Temple Studios in Los Angeles in the early 1960s.  Two largely separate but similar storylines take place, one within the gates of the studio, and another outside the gates within the town. As in Sleep No More, the performance space is elaborately decorated, and the set, music and costumes reflect the time and place (ironically, set in America despite being in London – while Sleep No More is set in Scotland but is in New York). What I found, experiencing The Drowned Man after many experiences with Sleep No More, is that although the basic structure remains similar, the shows themselves are strikingly different in tone but equally thrilling. The actors speak more in The Drowned Man, and the storyline is more explicit. This production will be closing this summer, unfortunately, but if you have the chance to be in London before it does, I highly recommend checking it out.

My advice for anyone attending a Punchdrunk performance for the first time is to wander until you find a character, and then begin following him or her. The first time I attended Sleep No More I ended up on the fifth floor, and explored the rooms for almost an hour before even finding an actor. I left the evening with an appetite to experience more, but if there is even the chance that you may only experience a Punchdrunk performance only once, the experience will be greatly enhanced by trying to follow a thread of the storyline through a few actors’ performances. Wear comfortable footwear – if you have a busy evening you will likely be doing a lot of walking (perhaps even running) and multiple flights of stairs. My final piece of advice is not to try to stay with the person or people you arrived with – you aren’t allowed to talk and holding hands blocks up passageways for others (it’s very annoying to try to follow a character, but then lose them because you can’t get around a couple of confused people blocking the stairwell). You will likely have a much more satisfying experience exploring on your own, and then discussing your separate experiences over drinks after the performance.

At the McKittrick Hotel, site of Sleep No More in Chelsea, you can even enjoy delicious drinks and dinner while experiencing a taste of immersive theater. The Heath, a restaurant on the sixth floor of the building, is set as if you were enjoying a railway restaurant in a village in Scotland. As you enter the elevator, a sign warns, “This is no ordinary station and things are not always as they appear. If you are lucky enough for one of our residents to invite you into their space, you might experience an intense psychological situation. Please note that you may decline, however, fortune does favor the bold . . .” Live music and hosts in character, who may or may not whisk you away for a mysterious phone call or to open a back room with a key delivered on a silver platter, complete the unique atmosphere. And, yes, the food and drinks are excellent as well!

Punchdrunk may have originated immersive theatre, but they no longer have the monopoly on it. In Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Third Rail Projects has created Then She Fell, an immersive theatrical/dance experience on a much smaller scale than Sleep No More. Limited to only 15 audience members per show, it is based on the fictional characters in “Alice in Wonderland” but also explores the complex relationship between the real author of the work, Oxford mathematics Professor Charles Dodgson (pen name: Lewis Carroll), and the young daughter of the Dean of Christ Church College, Alice Liddell. In this immersive experience, you are not the director of your own experience: you are led by performers into a series of one-on-one (or in some cases, like the tea party run by the Hatter, small group) experiences. Occasionally you find yourself in a carefully curated room for a period of time, and are welcome to explore before a performer comes in to interact. Alcoholic drinks and food may be a part of the evening, depending on your particular experience. In this performance, you guaranteed not to see everything in one round, and in fact may not see the person you came with for the entire evening; they may have had some of the same experiences, but in a different order.

Queen of the Night, a recent foray into Manhattan immersive theatre, is at the Diamond Horseshoe Revue at the Paramount Hotel in midtown. Loosely based on Mozart’s character in “The Magic Flute,” it is far less interactive, and includes an element of dinner theatre (albeit a risqué version!). Alcoholic drinks and food are included, and there is a Cirque-type show to be watched while eating. While entering the venue and selecting a pre-show cocktail, there is a strong likelihood that you will be taken off for an interactive experience with one of the performers. Once seated at the tables (and unless you have a large group, you will likely share a table with people you didn’t know before you arrived) food arrives – but not necessarily the same food that tables nearby have. If you are up to the experience, you can barter some of your food with other tables. When I went, our table had lobster, so it was fairly easy to barter some of that for prime rib with our neighbors. While it is interactive in the sense that you may have an experience or two with performers, you do not direct your own experience. The drinks and wine are plentiful, so if you go into this ready to have a good time, and open to interacting with other members of the audience, you are likely to have a fun evening.

Immersive theatre seems to have influenced many productions, which break or eliminate the fourth wall despite being more traditional theatrical experiences. Here Lies Love at the Public Theater on Lafayette Street, certainly does not qualify as true immersive theater, but it is certainly more free-form than traditional theater. David Byrne wrote this musical version of a surprising (Imelda Marcos) story, and it was first presented last year at the Public but is back again this year due to popular demand. You don’t direct the experience yourself, but on the main floor you are not seated in static traditional style, but rather stand and move around to see different parts of the story. You may have a character interact with you or ask to dance with you, but that is the limit to the immersion.

My personal bias is that I think that the freedom Punchdrunk productions allows a participant is exhilarating, and that is what makes their shows so addictive – you can keep returning and experiencing something different. There is an exciting change that occurs from watching television or a film to experiencing live theater – the knowledge that events are happening in real time with people performing in your space with you. Immersive theatre takes that up one more level. Not only are things happening at the moment that you see them, but you can become a part of them, and possibly even take control of directing the theatrical experience you have. If you are willing to embrace the unknown and take risks, the satisfying result will prove that fortune truly does favor the bold.