A NoPro Q&A with one of the creators of ‘The Visitation’ in Brooklyn

Michael Bontatibus is the playwright for The Visitation, and artistic director of WITNESS, a new immersive theatre company in New York City. Bontatibus’ plays have been produced with the Joust Theater Company, RADD Fest, Young Gotham Arts Series, Solo Performance Festival, and Tisch New Theater, among others.

NoPro spoke to him about WITNESS’ approach to creating immersive work, being influenced by a real historical witchcraft case, and working in the oldest building in New York City.

This interview has been edited for clarity.

No Proscenium: What does “immersive” mean to you?

Michael Bontatibus: As it pertains to live performance, I see immersive theatre as something that places the audience in the center of an experience — rather than them viewing it from the side, as they’d experience during a standard stage play. That, obviously, covers a broad spectrum.

NP: Why (or why don’t) you think of your work as immersive?

MB: Our show, The Visitation, is about a 17th-century witchcraft inquest and takes place at the Wyckoff House, which is the oldest building in New York City and dates from the early 1600s. We give the audience total agency in crafting their own narrative — they can walk around the house and grounds, and follow whichever characters they want, wherever they want. At the end of the play, an audience member might have a completely different take on the story than the person they came there with. That, to me, is one of the best kinds of immersive theatre, where you both have the power to design your own experience, and the opportunity to end up a fly on the wall in these authentic, living spaces, watching private moments between real people.

That all said, our next project will probably be in a completely different format. It’s fun to explore other configurations of immersive theatre as well.

NP: What was the moment where you knew that this kind of work was for you?

MB: Like so many people who live in New York, my first exposure to immersive theatre was with Sleep No More. I was interested in stuff that would probably now be classified as immersive or having immersive elements before, but that show definitely represented a paradigm shift in what I understood was possible within a theatrical medium.

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The Visitation certainly takes cues from Sleep No More in the way it’s constructed, giving freedom to the audience to chart their own paths. I’ve also always had a soft spot for stories with labyrinthine narratives — noir mysteries or sci-fi stories that mess with time and space, etc. — and I think constructing a piece of immersive theatre, with all its intersecting storylines and precise timing, scratches that itch for me as well.

NP: When designing — regarding your approach to presence, agency, safety, and consent — how do you cue the audience as to what’s expected of them and the nature of the content they might encounter?

MB: Our space is close-quarters and intimate — it’s a four-room house with a field, and thirty audience members a night, so it doesn’t require loads of crowd control. But while audiences usually pick up on the implicit rules of a show, there are those basic things which are best communicated explicitly. There’s a top-of-show speech at most every play you see for a reason. If you go to the theatre, it’s “turn off your cellphones.” In an immersive play, it’s “turn off your cellphones, and please don’t take our props and run away with them.” You frame it within the language of the show, but the principle is the same. It might be an audience member’s first time seeing an immersive show, or maybe the rules were different in the last immersive show they saw.

NP: What works — be they creative works, books, or other inspirations — have shaped your current work?

MB: The Visitation is loosely based on a real witchcraft case from the 17th century, though the location and exact time period have been changed somewhat, and a few characters are pure invention. But you can probably look up Anne Gunter and have some of the show spoiled for you if you want.

The shadows of those definitive witch/possession movies and plays certainly loom large over our show — The Crucible, The Exorcist, et al. There’s a character that’s probably dually inspired by Reverend Hale from The Crucible and Will Graham from the TV show Hannibal. I watched The Witch on several people’s recommendation while preparing for the show. I’m a wuss when it comes to horror movies but I can’t help but really like ones that build a strong sense of atmosphere, which is what we tried to do with The Visitation.

And, of course, all the immersive work I’ve seen around New York informs how we built the show, even the stuff that doesn’t necessarily succeed on all fronts. You take away lessons from everything.

The Visitation runs March 8–17 at the Wyckoff House in Brooklyn, New York. Tickets are $40. Read the NoPro review of their November production.

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