EP Weekly Roundup 12.9.16

An addition to our regular offerings of interviews, features, and artist commentary, we're posting a weekly roundup of theater from around the world that falls under the realm of investigative, immersive or interactive theater.

Josh Groban in "Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812." Photo Credit: Chad Batka

We’re offering something a little different in this week’s roundup: Kids! One of the shows is the immersive children’s show “Pip’s Island,” which looks fun, funky and magical for the whole family. Also, the Grobes just made his Broadway debut in Dave Malloy’s “Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet Of 1812.” It’s supposed to be every bit as good as its more immersive predecessors, but the creative team has transformed the Imperial Theater into its own special cabaret space. And if you’re in San Fransico, the original “The Speakeasy” is currently running through February 2017.

A reminder that the weekly roundup isn’t an endorsement, as we’ve not personally seen everything. It’s our way of keeping you in the loop.


IMMERSIVE/KIDS

“Pip’s Island”

“Pip’s Island” is an unparalleled, groundbreaking, immersive play experience combining exploration, empowerment, and education. It is a sixty-minute live and interactive narrative that adventures its way through a dozen unique, hand-crafted environments. Over the course of the event, children earn five Spark badges by completing activities and puzzles that have been developed by the show’s writers, designers, and childhood development experts. Incorporating the latest curriculum guidelines and play trends, Pip’s Island is guaranteed to empower its audience through sheer wonder.

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IMMERSIVE/BROADWAY

“Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812”
Book, music and lyrics by Dave Malloy
Directed by Rachel Chavkin

“Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet Of 1812” stars multi-platinum recording artist Josh Groban in his Broadway debut. Inspired by a 70-page slice of War and Peace, this “vibrant, thrillingly imagined new musical” (NY Times) is “stunning and blazingly original” (Entertainment Weekly) and brings us just inches from Tolstoy’s brash young lovers as they light up Moscow in a “heaven-sent fireball” (NY Times) of romance and passion.

Natasha is young, Anatole is hot, and Andrey isn’t here… but what about Pierre? Natasha is a beautiful ingénue visiting Moscow while she waits for her beloved fiancée Andrey to return from the war. In a moment of indiscretion, she is seduced by the dashing (but already married) Anatole and her position in society is ruined. Her only hope lies with Pierre (Groban), the lonely outsider whose love and compassion for Natasha may be the key to her redemption… and to the renewal of his own soul.

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IMMERSIVE/INTERACTIVE/SITE SPECIFIC

“The Speakeasy”

Illicit bar, crooked casino, vaudeville cabaret, immersive theater adventure.

Need we say more?

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