www.chicagolandmusicaltheatre.com: Windy City Playhouse announces an expansion in programming with a world-premiere immersive theatrical production, “Southern Gothic,” premiering February 7, 2018 and running through April 1, 2018 as a stand-alone production following the 2017 season. Written by Leslie Liautaud and directed by David H. Bell, “Southern Gothic” transports audiences into the middle of a cocktail party in Ashford, Georgia in the 1960s, where four couples gather together to celebrate a birthday.
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While Windy Cindy Playhouse may not be the Goodman or the Guthrie, this is still rather important news for regional theatres. From my general knowledge of regional theatres, this is one of the first immersive productions that I have heard of being part of a season at this level of theatre. The American Repertory Theatre has the Donkey Show but the A.R.T. is also producing shows at Broadway level. What “Southern Gothic” shows us is that the Chicago audience is ready for something like this and often Chicago audiences are an indicator at what may be in the near future of regional theatre. Quantum has done similar work but that is also what they are known for. What is interesting about this production is that it is a presented along with the normal season. The theatre is continuing to standard work, but is also willing to explore these venues. The blend of their season is what makes it so interesting.
I am so excited about immersive theatre (perhaps because I have not yet gotten to see any). I think it is an exciting new form of theatre that stretches the theatre experience and makes it more intimate. Because the term is so new, immersive can cover a wide array of experiences. I appreciated that the article explained that it was plot based and non-interactive. The problem that I consistently see whenever I read about immersive theatre is the audience size. Sleep No More solved that problem with the staggered arrival, but not every show can do that. The fact that this show can only accommodate 25 people per show makes me wary of the viability of the show and the art form. They have to charge more per ticket and part of the show is “sampling cocktails and appetizers throughout the duration of the performance.” Is that included with the ticket price? Theatres are always complaining that they cannot keep up with movie sales because they cannot have the numbers of audiences because the theatre is only so big. Immersive theatre seems to take that handicap and almost make it a selling point. I hope that the economics of this model will keep it thriving.
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