Mister and Mischief dropped the surprise hit of the Hollywood Fringe Fest 2018 with Escape from Godot. It ran for just one day and then remounted for one more day at IndieCade. There’s a good chance you missed it, but luckily, it’s back for a longer run.
I loved it. Noah loved it. You might too.
We talked to Andy and Jeff Crocker, the husband and wife team behind Escape from Godot via email.
Come for background on the show, stay for the banter and The Adventures of Pete & Pete shoutout.
No Proscenium (NP): In a nutshell: what is Escape from Godot?
Andy Crocker (AC): Escape from Godot is part theatre, part game. An interactive play-puzzle that puts the audience in control of how long they have to sit through an iconic work of existentialism.
NP: What made you want to tell this story in this way at this time?
AC: Well the idea just kept making us laugh and talk and brainstorm, so we thought we should give it a shot. Then (in no small part to No Proscenium giving us a shout out) we sold out our Fringe run before we finished writing the show. So we were forced to put it together. It was awesome and terrifying.
In a more general sense, speaking of terrifying, the world is a really scary place right now. And much like the era the original play was written in, a lot of folks are questioning why people must suffer on what Beckett called “this bitch of an earth.” (He was a really jolly fellow.)
But we believe that being playful is a natural way to be present with other people. And being present with other people is the best way to face this uncertain world.
NP: Where did you even come up with the idea to retell Waiting for Godot in this way?
AC: What is Waiting for Godot? We’re not sure what you are referring to. Never heard of it.
Jeff Crocker (JC): We try not to say the name of the source material too much. We try to just call it “The Very Important Play”
AC: Plus Samuel Beckett is like Beetlejuice. If you say his name 3 times…
JC: His ghost appears and says something really bleak.
AC: But tell the real story!
JC: Back in 2017, I was texting with a friend of ours, Mike Sablone, who used to work with Andy at Center Theatre Group.
AC: Hi Mike if you are reading this!
JC: He told me about a 13-hour escape room on a train through Finland to promote the movie version of “Murder on the Orient Express.” I said, “Does this mean we can get funding for our Escape from Waiting for Godot escape room?” When Andy got wind of the joke, she said, “we HAVE to do that.”
NP: As you developed this work, what influences did you find yourself coming back to?
AC and JC: Besides the source material, and all the many riffs on it, we are really inspired by theatrical works that somehow manage to be intellectual, accessible, playful and bizarre all at once. Our theatre crushes include The Rude Mechs, Geoff Sobelle, and the Burglars of Hamm. In terms of non-live media we reference Will McRobb and Chris Viscardi a lot. They created The Adventures of Pete and Pete (which is a total masterpiece), and said in an interview once that they tried to make every episode “Funny, Strange, Sad and Beautiful.” That really resonated with both of us.
NP: What was your experience like molding together the (in)famous Beckett play and an escape room together?
JC: They say opposites attract. We were surprised by how many ways and on how many levels the two genres spoke to each other.
AC: Beckett’s play is its own kind of puzzle. Who are these guys? Why are they there? And does any of it matter?
Get Kevin Gossett’s stories in your inbox
Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.
SubscribeSubscribe
JC: And on a broader level, the search for meaning in existence is the ultimate puzzle: we’ve got all the pieces in front of us, but we aren’t quite sure what the final picture is supposed to be.
That puzzle has plagued humans forever, way before there was the word for existentialism. So the source material and an interactive puzzle were really two great tastes that go great together.
AC: On another, snarkier note, anyone that has sat through a play they feel obligated to attend knows the feeling of wanting to wrap it up and get out. So an escape room and an intimate theatre piece just makes sense.
JC: It is more of a marriage than a mash-up. They work together pretty naturally.
NP: Were there any challenges in taking such a well known show and remaking it in a totally different style?
AC: Well, we tried to keep it as close to the original in terms of tone. Jeff wrote a very clever sound-alike as to not have the Beckett estate come after us. But really we wanted it to feel as much like the original as we possibly could. But in less time. And with more fun.
JC: One of the biggest challenges was making the difficulty level at the point that would be fun for both escape room enthusiasts and theatre lovers. We wanted to stay true to the source material, but make it as accessible to all the people looking for different experiences. Some walk away having played with a play, others walk away having seen theatre in their escape room.
NP: How immersive and interactive is this show?
JC: We like to joke that it is a site specific play, about a play, that takes place in a proscenium theatre. In other words, it’s an immersive piece wearing the costume of a traditional play.
AC: The audience plays the role of an audience, but interacts with the play a great deal. Without them and the actions they take, the show will literally not go on.
NP: How are you approaching designing around audience agency? What should the audience be expecting in that regard?
JC: This is a great question because we have had some folks watch the show and barely interact with the puzzles at all, and have a great time. We’re proud of the fact that overall, each audience member can choose how involved they want to be. There are parts for the more timid to have their moments of glory, and for the hams in the group to have their time in the spotlight. Bossy bears can succeed just as well as the voyeurs. And that’s all by design.
AC: That’s part of the reason we designed it to be played with strangers. When you go to see a traditional play, you (usually) don’t know everyone in the audience, so breaking that social barrier and collaborating with a stranger is one of the very first challenges, though it isn’t an explicit one. That could be a really big deal to someone, and if that’s their big adventure for the night, that’s great!
NP: What do you hope participants take away from the experience?
AC: We want to give them the feelings that all live events should give an audience: that they are an absolutely critical part of the experience and without them the performance is pointless.
JC: We hope we give guests something that stays with them and want to tell their friends about, but when they try to describe it, they end up saying, “You just have to see it.”
NP: What was it like designing this show together?
JC: It was a lot of fun and it was a lot of work.
AC: We’re parents of a toddler, so we’ve got loads of extra energy, time, and brain power! It was a breeze! Hahaha. Just kidding. It is madness.
JC: But once the kid went to sleep, we would sit together in our office brainstorm all the things we wanted to include and start developing and growing each element of the experience.
When it got time to produce the play portion, Andy (who has a degree in theatre directing from UCLA) naturally took over those duties, as well as putting together a stellar cast. My part was to design and build all the puzzles and props.
AC: And you wrote the script!
JC: The biggest challenge of designing the show together is making sure to find time to clock out and be a couple, rather than a creative team. It’s important mentally and creatively to be able to take a break.
AC: Oh. That is so true. Sometimes you just have to order Shake Shack delivery and watch Starship Troopers.
Escape from Godot runs Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays through March 24. Learn more about Mister and Mischief.
NoPro is a labor of love made possible by our generous Patreon backers: join them today!
In addition to the No Proscenium web site, our podcast, and our newsletters, you can find NoPro on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, in the Facebook community Everything Immersive, and on our Slack forum.
Office facilities provided by Thymele Arts, in Los Angeles, CA.
Discussion