San Francisco is about to get a cross-country collaborative show at the end of the month with The Liminal House of the Adjudicate. This interactive experience is being created by international immersive theatre director/creator Janet K. Howe (London), writer Kaitlin Gilgenbach (Los Angeles), and performer Shaina Shrooten (Chicago). Participants of The Liminal House of the Adjudicate will be directed to a secret San Francisco location and take part in an intimate, interactive show involving what happens after we die. The performance is being staged as part of Epic Immersive’s ongoing Underland series, an immersive incubator and club, and will be open to the public, unlike other Underland shows.

We spoke to creator Janet Howe over email to learn more.

No Proscenium (NP): Can you tell us a little about yourself and your background in the immersive arts?

Janet K Howe (JH): I got into making immersive/interactive theatre about five years ago. The big turning point for me was creating Farewell My Friend with the company I ran in Chicago, (re)discover theatre. The show was a blending of Romeo & Juliet and Tristan & Isuelt. It featured 14 full character tracks, spanning three floors and 13 rooms. The piece was an incredible puzzle to build and I loved it so much that I’ve never turned back.

In addition to making large scale, sandbox style immersive shows, I’ve also created intimate one-on-one experiences and a variety of other interactive works and installations. Since I have a background in dance and design, my work tends to be highly visual and multi-sensory. I’ve worked as a director, creator, producer, advisor, and recently started doing accessibility consulting for immersive. One of the things I love most about creating immersive theatre, is that it activates an audience in a way that creates a deeper impact. I also appreciate that is can appeal to an audience that would not call themselves theatre goers.

I am currently based in London and gaining lots of inspiration for the rich immersive community here. In addition to my directing degree, I have trained with Punchdrunk, Third Rail Projects, The Neo Futurists, Frantic Assembly, and recently worked with Blast Theory.

NP: What, in a nutshell, is The Liminal House of the Adjudicate about?

JH: The Liminal House of the Adjudicate is an afterlife experience that takes place in the space between life and the hereafter. Upon arriving, the audience discovers they have died and are now a member of the Uncounted. They are presented with a series of tests set up by the Adjudicate to collect accounts and measure each person’s life to determine their ultimate fate.

NP: Who are your collaborators?

JH: My collaborators are an incredible international artists who I’ve been working with cross continentally. This is the first time I’ve been able to work this way and I’m loving it. Our writer Kaitlin Gilgenbach is based in LA. She’s the absolute queen of dark comedy and brings a nice balance of levity to what would otherwise be an over serious topic. Our performer Shaina Shrooten is a fantastic immersive actor and creator based in Chicago. I’ve worked with her many times before and am thrilled she is making the trip out for this show. I am based in London now and have been working with a local costume designer, Shemekka Proud, and headdress designer, Amada Peidra. Our final, and hugely influential, collaborator is Epic Immersive and their space. The location of the show has been a driving influence for the content and structure of the show. We’ve all been collaborating cross continentally and will be bringing everything together in San Francisco at the end of the month.

NP: Why did you create this experience? What inspired you?

JH: Since coming to London, I’ve been very inspired by a lot of the playful experiences I’ve seen by companies like Coney and ZU-UK. While I’ve done a lot of open world work in the past, I was interested in creating something that had more firm physical structure that allowed audiences to truly bring themselves to it. Since I enjoy working in a site-responsive fashion, Epic Immersive’s space has also been a driving force. When I was in San Francisco for the Immersive Design Summit, I spent time exploring and sitting in the space, taking in what it had to offer, and picking up the type of energy the space creates. The space lends itself nicely to an afterlife world. This connected well with some thoughts that have been rolling around in my head about the subjective nature of value in a life, the legacy we leave behind, who will remember us and how.

NP: How is the audience incorporated into the work? What kinds of choices can the participants make?

JH: The audience is the absolute center of the work. While the overall structure is very guided, the audience engagement with each “test” is entirely up to them. There is room for the audience to bring themselves to the show decide how profound or playful their experience is. They make choices throughout that can determine their path and how they measure up in the end.

NP: How are you designing around audience agency, consent, and safety?

JH: Consent, safety, and access are very important to me and my work. I’ve taken many factors into consideration while deciding the form and style of this project. Through looking at the size and flow of the space and the personnel available to facilitate audience care, I decided to keep the show tracked and guided to best look out for everyone. Everything within the show is an invitation and audience are never forced to do anything. I strive to always build experiences that allow audiences to engage exactly as much as they are comfortable.

In addition to in-show considerations, I have also created a page that has a through list of content and access information. This page tells the audience all they might want to know about the show before booking a ticket. It also offers a way to reach out about getting a companion ticket for audience members who might benefit from a companion to help them throughout the experience. This was especially important to me since the short run does not allow us to offer audio described or ASL interpreted performances.

NP: Who is the ideal audience member for The Liminal House of the Adjudicate?

JH: Anyone alive who has ever contemplated the value of their life, how they will be remembered, or what might lie beyond the veil.

NP: What do you hope participants take away from The Liminal House of the Adjudicate?

JH: There is that saying that “hindsight is 20/20,” so, logically if you’ve died you could see your whole life clearly. I hope that participants take away a new perspective on their lives.

The Liminal House of the Adjudicate plays at an undisclosed space in San Francisco May 31 — June 2. Tickets are $40 with a discount for Underland members.

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