Then She Fell--how much theater is in "immersive theater"?

Immersive theater, in which attendees wander around a space and have individualized experiences with actors, is all the rage. I attended a well-reviewed example of this on a chilly night in Brooklyn. Then She Fell was created by the Third Rail Project based on writings of Lewis Carroll. It opened last year in an abandoned hospital, and recently moved to an old Brooklyn church. Only 15 "audience" members are admitted each night, and there are 6-7 dancers and actors who perform the various 15 or so scenarios in different rooms and floors of the church. You are artfully guided around, sometimes alone, sometimes with others (6 at most), usually watching, but sometimes interacting (shadowing the actions of a mime through a "mirror", dealing cards e.g.). Nothing is terribly risky, though.

I need to respond to this on two levels. First, the experience was stimulating, fun, and new. It reminded me of a very professional version of the walk thru haunted houses a friend of mine used to put together for Halloween. The loose-limbed dancers often defied gravity, going upside down in a topsy-turvy evocation of Alice in Wonderland. It was exciting to be in a phone booth-sized room with a cute young actor who engaged in knife play inches from my face.

The theatrical experience was mixed. I did not really reflect or gain any insights about Lewis Carroll, and the somewhat randomized nature of the events experienced precluded a truly linear narrative and sense of progression during the evening, so development and climaxes were muted. There were brief stabs at audience investigation of clues which, if followed through, might have added some unity to the proceedings, but these were not really effective. In short, the evening was more a series of fun tableaux vivantes rather than an integrated play. That said, it was a fun evening.