We talk to Vigilance Theater Group in Pittsburgh about their new immersive show

Vigilance Theater Group is a new theater company in Pittsburgh, a city already known for its rich immersive and haunt scene. Their first show, Hollow Moon, places a small umber of participants in a historic — and possibly haunted — house under the auspices of a clandestine meeting with a local bigshot. When they arrive, however, the true nature of the evening is revealed.

We caught up with Sean Collier, one of the co-founders of Vigilance Theater Group and the writer of Hollow Moon, over the magic of the Internet as the team prepares to open the show.

No Proscenium: For someone who isn’t familiar with your company, could you tell us a little about Vigilance Theater Group?

Sean Collier (SC): Vigilance was founded by four people — Dana Custer, Ariella Furman, Renee Rabenold and myself — who love immersive theatre and (just as importantly) love uncanny, cool, mysterious stories across all media. We’re not as interested in art that’s distant, obtuse or rarified; we love stuff that hits the viewer/reader/participant with great atmosphere, a compelling story and enticing characters. We hope to be able to create shows like that — interesting tales, in a rich world that hooks participants.

Why choose to present an immersive work for your first production? What drew you to this format?

SC: We plan to only present immersive work! Three of us (me, Dana and Ariella) met as participants in the long-form immersive show/alternate reality game Serpentine from Uncumber Theatrics; I first met Renee as a performer in an earlier Uncumber show, Her Things. We’re all dedicated fans of immersive work; eventually, we decided we wanted to cross the line and start creating in addition to participating.

Personally, I was introduced to immersive work locally, thanks to Bricolage Production Company, the ScareHouse and Uncumber; after (finally) seeing Then She Fell and Sleep No More earlier this year, I decided it was time to start writing.

NP: How did the Hollow Moon project come about? How is it different from, say, a haunted house or a live action game?

SC: After starting the company, we identified a few touchstones for the kind of story we wanted to tell — the big influences are two similarly-named but unrelated works, Shirley Jackson’s novel, The Haunting of Hill House, and the mid-century horror movie, The House on Haunted Hill — and began refining a strangers-trapped-in-a-house story.

There are certainly overlapping elements with both haunted houses and live-action games, but I think the biggest distinction is that long stretches of Hollow Moon are fully scripted; we try to drift back and forth between more interactive, improvisational (and audience-driven) scenes and fully scripted moments.

NP: Can you tell us a little bit about your secret venue?

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SC: Of course! The company line is that Hollow Moon takes place in a historic house in the city’s Lawrenceville neighborhood. To go a bit further than that: we started looking for properties that might serve as a good venue for the show and came across our venue, a four-story house with a lot of character. It seems that every room has a corner or exit you didn’t expect, and the house seems to move in directions that initially don’t make sense; it’s a beautiful building, but one with a lot of mystery to it. We’re thrilled to have found it.

NP: How is the audience incorporated into the work and how are you designing around audience agency, consent, and safety?

SC: At the beginning of the show, there’s no in-world distinction between the twelve audiences members and four of our cast members — all are 16 strangers meeting for the first time. While much of the conversation will obviously be dominated by our cast, later scenes allow the audience to connect and ally with different characters; eventually, the choices of certain patrons (and the success of the group as a whole at certain tasks) will determine the ending of the show.

Before the audience enters, however, we make sure to clarify (both verbally and in a signed waiver) that the show is a work of fiction, they’re not in any danger and they’re free to leave at any time if they feel uncomfortable. We’re also giving content warnings in the pre-show speech to try and ensure that no one is faced with content they’ll find triggering or unpleasant.

NP: What’s surprised you during the development of the show?

SC: Two answers: First, the enthusiasm we’ve been met with, from all angles. Our Kickstarter campaign met its goal quickly, actors jumped at the chance to try an original show from a new company, press coverage has been great and the show is nearly sold out. We thought we’d have to really sell ourselves to the community; it seems that the audience for immersive work in Pittsburgh is large, eager and dedicated.

Second, the challenge of embracing unpredictability. The ending of Hollow Moon is, by and large, unwritten; each night’s conclusion will depend on choices that certain audience members make. That’s involved a lot of push and pull around what we can and cannot predict, plan for and control; ultimately, we found, we sort of have to wait and see what happens, live, each night. That’s scary — but incredibly exciting.

NP: Who is the ideal audience member for this show?

SC: There’s this scene in the Ready Player One movie — and apologies if you are not a fan, but I think the point still applies — where the characters find themselves trying to solve a puzzle within Kubrick’s The Shining. They’ve entered the film itself and have to explore and exist there. When I saw the movie, I wanted to do exactly that, immediately. If that’s you, I think you’re going to be very pleased with Hollow Moon.

My favorite moments in immersive theatre are those where it feels like I’m watching a movie from the inside, sometimes hanging back and letting the show play out, sometimes stepping forward and shaping it myself; that’s the kind of show we tried to create. More broadly, if you like suspense, horror, mystery, thrillers (and don’t mind chatting with a few characters), I think you’ll love Hollow Moon.

NP: What do you hope participants take away from the experience?

SC: I hope that participants new to immersive theatre feel the way I did when I first encountered it: enchanted, and eager for more experiences. I hope that participants who are familiar with other immersive works feel we’ve earned our place among the excellent creators in Pittsburgh. I do hope people are a bit scared! And I hope people leave with at least a few unanswered questions, so we can get to work on answering them with our next show!

Hollow Moon runs November 7—18 in an undisclosed location in Pittsburgh. Tickets are nearly sold out.

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