Immersive Review Rundown: Spooky Season Sweets

Our main focus this week is on the treats that Spooky Season delivers as it gears up for its grand finale: Halloween. To that end we've got reviews from London, Philly, and L.A.. Sadly a few of them have already run their course for this year, but as these things often go there's always a chance they'll come back around.

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A BREW TO A KILL (Guildford, UK)

Guildford Shakespeare Company
£35; Hogs Back Brewery, Guildford, UK; Runs until November 15th

One night in the 1950s, the Gloucester family welcome guests to their Hogs Back Brewery and the opening of their T.E.A Room. Don’t worry it isn’t Earl Grey but Traditional English Ale, served in a teapot. The evening is rather spoiled when brother George is found strangled to death in the machinery. Now we must solve this murder before the police arrive.

Over 90 minutes our teams are escorted to various brewery sites to interview our suspects. Could it be Richard Gloucester (Jack Whitham), newly returned to the family business? His sister and landlady Edwina (Emma Fenney)? What of local gangster Tommy Tyrell (Robert Maskell)? Why is rival brewery owner Anne Prior (Laura Smithers) poking around?

This Shakespeare inspired murder mystery from Guildford Shakespeare Company is skillfully written by Eli Murton and well directed by Matt Pinches and the cast perform and handle improvising while dealing with various questions from the audience impressively. It is always a pleasure to see a cast enjoying their roles, particularly when making their references to the Bard AND beer puns.

I must give credit for the speed the show moves at, with 10 minutes in each venue and returning to the Tea Room to witness additional scenes. There is hardly any time for discussion and note sharing in our groups but the reveal left me feeling content that I had pieced the solution together well enough. 

It is worth pointing out that this venue is a functioning brewery, the actual Hogs Back who supply the drinks, and is quite isolated for those who don’t drive (about 40 minutes walk from the train station). I enjoyed myself and the audience seem entertained and appreciating the beers. After all, to quote Shakespeare “a quart of ale is a dish for a king."

— Thomas Jancis, London Correspondent 

Gateways Cinescapes (Philadelphia)

$20+; Olde Kensington; Ongoing 

Gateways Cinescapes is a glitzy and (initially) dazzling series of mini-games, all wrapped up in the glossy package of a movie theater where each screen is a portal to the world of the film. Four games, each of about 15-20 minutes, are on offer, each corresponding to a different film. "First Festival" (a sort of live action Mario Party), "Iron Diner" (very clearly Overcooked), "Pirates of the Great Grid" (think Tron meets the old Disney Quest Pirates of the Caribbean Simulator), and "Ghost Writer's Study" (asynchronous Luigi's Mansion at a seance table, where one of you is the ghost). 

Frustratingly, it is an experience of high highs and low lows. While the whole experience has an air of polish and gumption that carries it far, the underlying feeling is that you're dealing with a working prototype. The aggressive use of generative AI is immediately apparent, and to mixed results. The computer generated soundtrack sounds relatively polished, and clearly went through many rounds of iteration. The artwork and most pronouncedly, the video intros and tutorials, fare worse.

Games themselves are also a mixed bag; Iron Diner is spectacular, works without hiccups, and very quickly devolves into the exact fun that Overcooked brings home audiences, with the added chaos of juggling physical props. Pirates and Ghost Writer are more mixed, each bringing an exciting physicality, but needing additional rounds of polish and balance to make them work as games. First Festival, meanwhile, is a nearly unplayable dead last; props frequently broke, instructions were incomprehensible, and the intended asynchronous play not yet functional on our playthrough.

There is chutzpah here, for better and for worse. Gateways Cinescape began as dorm room games staged at UPenn, and the glossy veneer does give you the feeling of a backyard carnival Disneyland the original must have carried. However, your personal tolerance for generative AI, and willingness to enjoy a work in progress, may determine whether this is an adventure you're likely to enjoy.

– Blake Weil, Correspondent At Large

Ghosts of the Miles - Historical Haunt (Santa Monica)

Panda Roja Design
$15; Miles Memorial Playhouse; Oct. 23 & 24

Like a Halloween mirage, Ghosts of the Miles appeared for one brief weekend before receding into the coastal fog. Yet there’s some hope that if wish hard enough it may come back to haunt Santa Monica once more.

Framed as a historical tour of Santa Monica’s civic owned Miles Memorial Playhouse, which lay dormant for five years after Covid, the tour starts to — deliberately — go off the rails right from the start, when our tour guide is confronted by the lone caretaker of the Playhouse who has no idea that anyone was supposed to be here after hours. The Playhouse itself seems to not know that either, as suddenly there are flashes of light from within and windows thrown open: a rehearsal is going on. Unscheduled or…?

The party quickly gets split, with some of us following the tour guide, some the caretaker, and a small band of us sneaking off with a know it all on the tour who takes us the quick way to the playhouse floor. From the back of the house we hear a demanding presence on what’s known in the theater as the God Mic put a hapless “Leading Man” through increasingly frantic paces on stage.

Before this escalates completely out of control one of the other groups appears on stage with our leading man, seemingly ensorcelled to become background players in the Playhouse’s strange drama. Then our final group emerges with the caretaker, who now is on the edge of panic as none of this is supposed to be going on.

This is the kind of haunted house story where the house itself is the monster, and in this case the monster is theater itself. It wants to keep you and play with you forever, but enticing as that may seem it doesn’t always play nice.

I only got to take in one track of Ghosts of the Miles, having signed up for the last slot of the night, and wish I had given myself room for more. At the low ticket price of $15 — one of the restrictions that came with the City of Santa Monica's Art of Recovery Program grant which powered the show — multiple runs were an honestly economical option. Instead I stood around for a good half hour afterwards trading notes with two other patrons who I knew.

One had taken the route that led to a dance piece by former DIAVOLO co-choreographer Majella Bess, whom I last saw in Iris Company’s The Still Point. I had been on the track with Nerea Duhart, one of L.A.’s most authentic immersive actors. The whole cast was stacked with talent, both familiar and new, and managed to great effect by writer/director Katie Rediger, a long time member of L.A.’s immersive scene who makes a stunning directorial turn here.

Ghosts of the Miles candle burned very briefly, but hopefully PR’s relationship with the City of Santa Monica can summon the spirits back again before long.

– Noah J. Nelson, Publisher

Halloween Nights at Eastern State Penitentiary (Philadelphia)

From $49; Fairmount; Oct. 2 - Nov. 7

I hate reporting disappointment, but over the past several years, Eastern State Penitentiary has gone from a must see attraction to an occasionally strong, largely uneven affair. 

Taking feedback from last year, they have made the beer gardens and scare zones free roam. To compensate for this, though, they have placed one small haunted house at the front, and the rest of the haunted attractions as a one way path at the exit. Overall, this continues to reduce the theme park glee of the attraction. Beyond that, while the actors present are still game, budget cuts are obvious; The Crypt especially felt scantily populated by ghouls and ghosts, as did other classic houses Nightmares and Big Top Terror. The Deep still feels fresh, with interesting modern technology. Overall, though, no matter what revisions to paths they make, the attraction is feeling a bit tired.

The Speakeasy at Al Capone's Cell is still a delight, highlighting local actors and singers, but even there the feeling of guests being rushed was inescapable. Local dancers performing as The Boogie Monsters remain a must see, adding local Philly flavor to the evening.

Is this worth $49 dollars? Has enshittification come for Eastern State? Your mileage may vary, but the sense that Halloween is no longer a priority for the institution has started to feel inescapable. It's particularly sad considering the catch-22 they find themselves in. Halloween is a major moneymaker, but cut funding means cut offerings and the need to pump more people through at faster rates. One has to wonder if this is all downstream of the budget squeeze hitting many Philly institutions. Nevertheless, I might give a few years for the event to change (or recover) before I'd advise long-time fans or eager first timers to visit.

– Blake Weil, Correspondent At Large

I Need To Tell You Something (Los Angeles)

Daniel Montgomery & Riley Rose Critchlow
$31; Undisclosed Location; Oct. 22-25 

On the odd chance that this Spooky Season treat returns to L.A. next year I don’t want to dig into too many details. After all, I Need To Tell You Something revolves around Daniel Montgomery — writer of The Willows and many a JFI Productions show whose sense of horror melds two measures of bizarre and one of camp so dry it’s got a zing all its own. 

The setup is simple, Daniel needs to tell you something so you head over to his place. Once there you find that there’s a wild cast of characters, played by some familiar faces, who are drawn from the Halloween imaginarium. 

If you have enjoyed bantering with members of The Willows family that vibe is here in a kind of cocktail form. The show is set up for one guest at a time and it moves with the speed of a horror comedy short film. This execution, realized by director Riley Rose Critchlow and a pitch perfect cast including Montgomery himself, Misha Reeves, Mason Conrad, Morgan Taylor and more, is akin to a fine Swiss watch.

The only regrets I have is that the show is already over, so I can’t get some friends through, nor will I ever be able to experience it again for the first time. I wouldn’t want to deny someone the chance to do the show either, so if Montgomery and co were to bring it back for a night or two next year I wouldn’t take up a space. After all, I now know what he needed to tell me, and I’ll keep that memory forever. 

– Noah J. Nelson, Publisher

Monstersongs (Philadelphia)

Forgotten Lore Theater
$25; Sep. 10-26

I can't hide my immense love for Forgotten Lore as a company. Yes, the productions are proudly amature, but they are curiouser and more ambitious than half of what I tend to see. Monstersongs is no exception. Forgotten Lore's first musical, it is an adaptation of the rarely staged song cycle/graphic novel from Rob Rokicki (best known for The Lightning Thief musical). Audience members are called on stage as volunteers from the cast of burlesque and clown "sirens" that act as emcees, potential lures for the assorted Halloween ghoulies that sing each song. I played an intrepid explorer menaced by a regretful mummy, and a nagging parent to a reluctant dragon over the course of the evening; witch's victims and potential parts for Frankenstein were gamely played by fellow theater goers.

Of course the source material is uneven; there is a reason this is rarely produced. Rokicki's work varies between mildly derivative and fun pop-broadway on par with social-media darlings like Be More Chill.  Of course the quality varies, from dizzyingly professional to charmingly local, with a cast of students and community members. But this, like many of the company's historical choices, give a degree of character that is definitional to the Philadelphia scene. The entire evening felt like classic children's theater for adults, or a Nightmare-Before-The-Christmas panto season. The call and responses, the mimed swipes of claws, the audience sing-a-long choruses all build to a sense that the show is for that night's crowd alone, and couldn't happen without it.

In the ravages of adulthood, we're so often forbidden from engaging in the pleasures of playing pretend, and to unite in creativity with our fellow man. This is why people participate in community theater to begin with. How delightful that Monstersongs also affords that opportunity to its audience. I will continue to attend every Forgotten Lore show I can to chase this feeling, and advise my readers to do the same.

– Blake Weil, Correspondent-At-Large

ROOM 13 (London)

Immersive Octopus and BAC 
From £20; Battersea Arts Centre, London, UK; 16 Oct. - 1 Nov.

Friday 13th March 2015: fire spread through the Battersea Arts Centre destroying the roof, collapsing the tower and gutting the Grand and Lower Halls. This much is known; the smoke was seen by your intrepid reporter, who later went to the fundraiser for remounting the show having lost all the set and costumes in the fire.

What is less documented was the discovery of Room 13 and the sealed horrors within. Now, 11 years on, this room is open and we have volunteered to explore it.

Joining a later group (after my plus one was delayed because one has to wait while the King’s official swan catcher removes the bird from a track before the trains can run. A very normal excuse.) We are escorted by the Edwardian-looking members of ‘The Circle of the Veil’ to the titular Room. There have been strange noises and things tearing through the veil between worlds. We must go into this mysterious room, keep quiet and observe.

Inside we sit, at tables separated by veils, solving clever puzzles in order to release sealed artifacts. This system does allow about 30 audience members in without getting too crowded while still allowing some intimacy. 

‘Room 13’ does a good job of mixing the facts, as seen by the photos of the fire damage hanging in the waiting room, and the supernatural aspects. While the room is very atmospheric in the dark, strobe lighting allows jumpscare flashes of half-seen horrors. The tables are carved with runes, the artifacts are gnarled and twisted and there is the smell of smoke in the room.

Running at 35 minutes, this is not a cheap experience for your money but it is entertaining and a lot of effort has been put into creating a spooky atmosphere.

— Thomas Jancis, London Correspondent 

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