The creators of last year’s sold-out The Wylding Woods are back with a new kid-focused immersive experience in Mill Valley, CA.
Located next to Woander’s toy and game store, Story Stump: The Singing Garden combines live puppetry, music, imaginative play, and interactive storytelling into family friendly event that evokes Mister Rogers and Sesame Street. Only here families are living out their very own story in a magical world of Lexi the storybook fairy, her friends Gus the Gigglepillar and Lulu Bird as together they bring music back to the Singing Garden.
We checked in with writer and director Matthew Purdon about the new production which runs through Nov. 7th - 27th.
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NO PROSCENIUM: Tell us a little bit about your experience! What’s it about? What makes it immersive?
Matthew Purdon: Our experience is designed as an imaginative play space. Our participants are given the role of helper to Lexi, the storybook fairy. When they arrive, they receive adventure bags to collect things they will use and find. The first thing they do after they pass through the magic portal is restore a garden that has been destroyed by a storm. They plant giant flowers and mushrooms, roll out a stream with a bridge and lay out stepping stones. By physically building the experience, they are directly engaging their bodies and imagination to create the world. Every show has a slightly different layout to which our performers Ellie Johnson and Gabrielle Greenfield adapt to for each show.
As the show unfolds, they meet our characters, including our giant puppet, Lulu Bird and Gus the Gigapillar discover clues hidden around the room as to why the Singing Garden isn’t singing. Through their own agency and collaborative action, they learn and sing the song, becoming the actual flowers of the Singing Garden. As the story unfolds, we then layer in sounds, lights and scents as part of the experience. What’s different is that instead of using those theatrical tools to get imaginative buy-in, we use them as responses to the imaginative actions that enhances their experience after they have already bought into the world.
We also begin immersing them in the world through at home onboarding experiences. About a week before they receive a letter from the storybook fairy inviting them to the Singing Garden and the Story Stump, her home and fairy tale library. We have a gorgeous set piece for the Story Stump built by Haley Who that opens up a few days before, they are invited to participate in an online experience with a 3D version of Lexi to create their own story. That story then appears in her story book in the Story Stump and is read back during the show they attend.
This is just one adventure in The Wylding Woods, our fairy tale storyworld. There are easter eggs in the experience that call back to other adventures that many of our young adventures remember and call out. At the end of the adventure, they also receive an adventure log to record their experience and future ones. Ultimately, our participants are being immersed in an ongoing episodic story world.
NP: What was the inspiration for your upcoming experience?
MP: When my children were younger, we would take short hikes that felt very long to them. So we would stop half way on an old redwood stump for a snack and I would tell stories. This became the Story Stump. I later discovered a giant hollowed out redwood stump that we could enter and play in. From these two stumps, the vision of The Story Stump as a home for fairy tales emerged. The stories I would tell would unfold as episodes with different characters which gave birth to The Wylding Woods story world.
NP: What do you think fans of immersive will find most interesting about this latest experience?
MP: Physical immersion is very important, but that often ends up in highly detailed and expensive buildouts. These buildouts become a spectacle unto themselves where people just walk around looking and not actually using their bodies. I also play a lot of table top roleplaying and have had some incredible immersive experiences just engaging the theatre of the imagination. So in this experience, I wanted to fully engage both participants' bodies and imagination by building the garden and moving around in engaging ways to create deeper engagement and ownership in the space that moves the story forward.
NP: Once you started designing and testing what did you discover about this experience that was unexpected?
MP: We were worried that we might not have enough plot points, excitement or even a true antagonist for our story. But what has evolved is something that is very sweet and playful that our audiences have embraced. As the show evolved, we worked to retain these qualities as essential to the experience. When there is so much real drama out in the world, there is a need to be held safely and joyfully. I think our experience allows children to feel empowered as heroes in the story without the disruption of their nervous system. And the adults who come with them get to play with their children and experience that sweetness and joy together.
NP: What can fans who are coming to this, or thinking about coming to this, do to get into the mood of the experience?
MP: Well, puppets are central to our world, so anything Jim Henson captures the silliness that happens in our show. But I would say that the quality of Mr. Rogers World of Make-Believe hits that tender, warming quality. Dressing up in a fairy costume, wearing flowers or even doing some gardening are great ways to get in the mood for our show.
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