On a beautiful May evening in Wicker Park, west of downtown Chicago, I found myself searching for my next immersive theatre adventure. Walking down the street with address in hand, I finally arrived at a small pop-up camping tent, complete with sleeping bag. This thematically appropriate tent serves as the makeshift box office for One On One Chicago’s The Outpost.
This inaugural production is conceived, produced, directed and performed by One On One Chicago’s curator, Andrew Lund. Housed within a modified storage container called Boombox (a 200-square-foot prefabricated micro-retail location for popup businesses and startups) this one-on-one immersive performs weekends through the month of May.
“On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; to help other people at all times; to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight.”
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The story of The Outpost begins in an outlying settlement, the titular “Outpost.” After taking the Boy Scout Oath, you find yourself surrounded by walls covered in a heavy brown craft paper with reference photos, maps and botanical notes scrawled across the walls. Textbooks, camping supplies, and piles of crumpled papers are strewn around the room. Audience members are given a series of tasks to complete throughout the experience. From choosing the record to be played to tying a taut line hitch knot. The activities engaging you with this space that you’ve stumbled into. If you are like me, it will also remind you how sad your knot tying skills are.
Inspired by Lund’s own time as a Boy Scout, The Outpost explores questions of biology, relationships, family, religion and sexuality. Lund narrates his agitated and obsessive quest to understand one particular piece of botanical mystery, an account of his observations complete with notes, reference diagrams, and full-leaf hot tea brewed on a makeshift worktable. These interactions with Lund are filled with pieces of his self-discovery about the beauty and freedom found in nature. Toward the later part of the experience, Lund incorporates much more movement-based storytelling.
Then, just as suddenly as you began your time in The Outpost by reciting the Scout oath, your 15 minutes are over and you are sent on your own journey. You leave Lund behind to continue his search for understanding, but he ensures you are prepared with a map he provides to help you on your way.
If the beauty of immersive theatre is stepping into a new space and leaving your reality behind, The Outpost achieves that goal. A brief walk down the sidewalk, past an open-air restaurant, and you are transported into a remote cabin. Lund has been extremely resourceful with the execution of his design. The simplicity of the design feels complete, deliberate, and never forced. The production’s only weakness is the noticeable ambient sound pollution from the surrounding neighborhood. The Boombox’s structure does little to mask the sounds of thumping car stereos and emergency sirens as they pass by.
I visited Chicago with my three children, ages 16, 13, and 5. I had arranged for all four of us to individually experience The Outpost that evening. The content was easily digested by my two older children, and both came away enjoying their first taste of immersive entertainment. They discussed the show at length the rest of the evening, comparing experiences and explanations for what they witnessed. Lund was gracious enough to adapt the show for my 5-year-old as well. Much to my surprise, she was eager to enter The Outpost on her own and came skipping out 15 minutes later. When I asked her what she had in her hand, she informed me, “It’s my map so I can go on my very own adventure.” She then took the next 20 minutes to explain to our Uber driver what her adventure was going to be.
For a first production, One on One Chicago has created an engaging 15-minute experience that will appeal to both a seasoned immersive theatre-goer as well as someone brand new to this art form. If you are in or around the Chicago area, it is a performance well worth seeing. At a ticket price of only $8, or Thursday’s “pay-what-you-can,” it’s an affordable evening of entertainment that could be accompanied with dinner at one of the many options within walking distance of the Boombox location.
The Outpost plays Thursdays through Mondays through May 28th at the Boombox Wicker Park (1262 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago, IL 60622). Tickets are $8, with pay-what-you-can Thursdays. Run time is 15 minutes.
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