Tom and I arrive a little early so we decide to go the restaurant associated with the theater. We take a dark elevator run by a well dressed operator to the restaurant upstairs. We step out of the elevator and into the 1930s. There are telephone booths lining one wall and a newspaper stand situated in the corner. We walk down the hall and onto a platform next to a train. Each car houses a couple of tables and chairs. On the opposite side of the train is the restaurant. The room is smoky, the lights are low, and there's a jazz band playing on a small stage. Tom and I sip on our drinks at the bar and watch as a lovely lady clad in white walks around entertaining the guests with card tricks and fortune telling.
The bar is getting busy so Tom and I head back to the street to find the entrance to the theater. It turns out to be the back entrance of an old warehouse. The only indication that we're in the right spot is the small gold plaque with the thistle motif. After checking into the hotel and giving up all of our possessions, we head down a narrow dark hallway lit only by candles and into a bar where we're offered absinthe.
A man beckons us into the corner where we are given masks and told not to talk from this point forward. The audience wears white masks, stewards wear black masks, and the actors wear none. We all pile into an elevator and it makes it's ascent. When the elevator stops, a woman gets off and we try to follow but we are unexpectedly held back as the doors close and we continue our journey. "It is best you travel alone for the rest of the evening," the host says.
When the doors open, we walk into an empty hall. Everyone takes off in different directions. I begin my own exploration, thoroughly examining everything that I come upon. There is room after room of things that just don't make sense. There's a room full of bathtubs, a baby's crib surrounded with headless dolls, the lobby of a hotel, a cemetery, a street with shops lining it, a forest, a stone garden, a ballroom....and the list goes on covering 6 floors worth of space. I pick up books, little scraps of paper, and open all of the drawers. All of these things are clues about what's going on. A sentence is underlined, a page is dog eared, a note is scribbled on paper. I notice a word puzzle carved into several pieces of furniture. I don't know what it means.
I hear some scuffling so I follow the sound through a maze of boxes into a billiard room. A group of men are playing an intense game of cards. Every now and then, one of them stands up dramatically with a card in his hand and loudly nails it to the wall with a hammer before taking a shot of alcohol. Suddenly, I hear shouting coming from the other room so I run to investigate. I find myself in an uncomfortable situation, standing face to face, just inches away from a fiery eyed man covered in blood. After what feels like an eternity, we break eye contact, and he barges into the room that I just came from. A fight erupts between him and another man. They start throwing each other into the walls and over the tables. Eventually they end up behind the bar and one of them is murdered with a brick. The murderer storms out into the alley and stops. A woman comes running towards him and the two of them kiss passionately and then run off into the shadows. I try to follow them but I lose them in the crowd so I continue perusing the different rooms.
The night continues like this....happening across a scene and then chasing after the actors as they continue their story in another part of the hotel. I see a pregnant woman being offered an addictive drink over and over in various scenes. She seems crazy and often mutters about mothers of the world. I see a man and a woman having an intimate unsettling quarrel that goes from loving to angry and back again. I see a man digging in the graveyard and another man dancing in the stone garden. I see the maid covering a dozen clocks in cloth. I see a man examining a dead bird over a bible. I see a man and a woman dancing with a door between them. I see lots of passionate, heart felt kissing between different couples. The pregnant woman lights a candle at an alter. The king gets a shave from a man that he's not sure he can trust. He is eventually hanged by a group of 3 men. Tom sees an orgy involving a goat head. He is also privy to a private show of 2 men fighting behind a locked door.
At the end of the night, I didn't know what was going on. I started feeling a bit frantic and was finding it difficult not to talk. It was definitely a test of mental stamina. I'd describe it as a social or human experiment. What will you do when you get put into a situation that doesn't follow society's rules? When you have anonymity and freedom to do as you please? Will you join the actors when they flirt with you and motion for you to join them in a drink? If you do, fortune will favor you. I have heard stories of the wonderful adventures that come from being bold with the actors.
I want to go again. After seeing the show once, I have a better understanding of what they mean when they say "Fortune favors the bold." Next time, I would be a little more intrusive. This show was erotic, violent, confusing, shocking, interesting, immersive, and unlike anything I've ever experienced before. It really is more of an experience than a show. It was like running around in someone's nightmare. It was another world. I'm finding it hard to let it go.
When the doors open, we walk into an empty hall. Everyone takes off in different directions. I begin my own exploration, thoroughly examining everything that I come upon. There is room after room of things that just don't make sense. There's a room full of bathtubs, a baby's crib surrounded with headless dolls, the lobby of a hotel, a cemetery, a street with shops lining it, a forest, a stone garden, a ballroom....and the list goes on covering 6 floors worth of space. I pick up books, little scraps of paper, and open all of the drawers. All of these things are clues about what's going on. A sentence is underlined, a page is dog eared, a note is scribbled on paper. I notice a word puzzle carved into several pieces of furniture. I don't know what it means.
I hear some scuffling so I follow the sound through a maze of boxes into a billiard room. A group of men are playing an intense game of cards. Every now and then, one of them stands up dramatically with a card in his hand and loudly nails it to the wall with a hammer before taking a shot of alcohol. Suddenly, I hear shouting coming from the other room so I run to investigate. I find myself in an uncomfortable situation, standing face to face, just inches away from a fiery eyed man covered in blood. After what feels like an eternity, we break eye contact, and he barges into the room that I just came from. A fight erupts between him and another man. They start throwing each other into the walls and over the tables. Eventually they end up behind the bar and one of them is murdered with a brick. The murderer storms out into the alley and stops. A woman comes running towards him and the two of them kiss passionately and then run off into the shadows. I try to follow them but I lose them in the crowd so I continue perusing the different rooms.
The night continues like this....happening across a scene and then chasing after the actors as they continue their story in another part of the hotel. I see a pregnant woman being offered an addictive drink over and over in various scenes. She seems crazy and often mutters about mothers of the world. I see a man and a woman having an intimate unsettling quarrel that goes from loving to angry and back again. I see a man digging in the graveyard and another man dancing in the stone garden. I see the maid covering a dozen clocks in cloth. I see a man examining a dead bird over a bible. I see a man and a woman dancing with a door between them. I see lots of passionate, heart felt kissing between different couples. The pregnant woman lights a candle at an alter. The king gets a shave from a man that he's not sure he can trust. He is eventually hanged by a group of 3 men. Tom sees an orgy involving a goat head. He is also privy to a private show of 2 men fighting behind a locked door.
At the end of the night, I didn't know what was going on. I started feeling a bit frantic and was finding it difficult not to talk. It was definitely a test of mental stamina. I'd describe it as a social or human experiment. What will you do when you get put into a situation that doesn't follow society's rules? When you have anonymity and freedom to do as you please? Will you join the actors when they flirt with you and motion for you to join them in a drink? If you do, fortune will favor you. I have heard stories of the wonderful adventures that come from being bold with the actors.
I want to go again. After seeing the show once, I have a better understanding of what they mean when they say "Fortune favors the bold." Next time, I would be a little more intrusive. This show was erotic, violent, confusing, shocking, interesting, immersive, and unlike anything I've ever experienced before. It really is more of an experience than a show. It was like running around in someone's nightmare. It was another world. I'm finding it hard to let it go.
If you want to get a sense of the confusion, watch this:
If you want more, this guy does an excellent job of explaining the experience, but be aware that there are many spoilers:
