On their approach to creating the immersive soap opera City of Dreams

Show:Up! are the Brooklyn-based creators of City of Dreams, a transmedia episodic series centered around interactive dinner parties and other food-related gatherings. In their events, you might find yourself seated next to someone having a meal and unsure if they’re a performer or another guest. A heated discussion or unexpected argument can break out literally next to you, or you might be asked to help decorate for the party. (There also seems to be plenty of wine to drink as well.) And it’s always a surprise what’s going to happen during a specific episode, because the company never repeats episodes. In-between episodes, participants can also keep tabs on the characters via Instagram, where they regularly post photos and interact with one another.

We caught up with co-creative director Nickolas Vaughan, Creative Director in the midst of the planning for the next episode and asked him our Immersive 5.

This interview has been edited lightly for clarity.

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

Nickolas Vaughn (NV): I immediately think of completely surrounding the audience in a 360-degree experience to truly eliminate the fourth wall, and to submerge the audience into a world that we have created for them.

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

NV: Show:UP! is definitely immersive! We work really hard to ensure all of the artistic elements are in place. Whether it’s “big” details like table setups, or small ones like what’s in a closet or the off-site location experience, we aim for each guest to leave not knowing what was “real” and what was constructed for the experience.

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

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NV: I think at some point during the very first experience we produced in 2014, I realized that this was something extremely special. Being able to bring a group of strangers together and watch them become invested and gradually forget they were witnessing a piece of theatre, was addictive.

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?

NV: We start each experience with an on-boarding process. This is where we explain the world of Show:UP and how it all works, to ensure each guest has a safe and enjoyable time.

Beyond that, it’s up to the guests to lead — we never push the audience to do anything they don’t want to do.

Everything is based in reality, so each guests has agency over their own individual experience and comfort level.

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

NV: I have a background in improv and musical theatre, so I pull a lot of inspiration from that. [Co-artistic director William Bryant Miles] and I also enjoy reality television, which is made up of real people but is often orchestrated and fictional. Shows like the Real Housewives and Love and Hip Hop franchises have inspired how we tell our stories. Like those shows, we enjoy the complexity of real life — especially when it’s amplified — and try to incorporate that into the work.

City of Dreams will have its next episode on April 28 in an undisclosed location. Get 30% off with code NOPROSCENIUM.

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