Then She Fell – Location, Tickets, Reviews
Then She Fell from Third Rail Projects is an immersive adaption of Alice in Wonderland. It is now in its second run at a new location, The Kingsland Ward at St. Johns, a century-old institutional facility in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
The audience for each Then She Fell performance is limited to 15 people. The audience is divided and guided through a maze of rooms and corridors. Occasionally you are alone, truly alone all by yourself in a room; sometimes you are with a single performer observing, engaging, and conversing; and at times you are with a small group. Each audience member holds a set of keys for exploring locked boxes and drawers during the alone, alone times, which are usually short in duration.
The performance is multi-sensory and multi-disciplinary. It incorporates dance, visual projections, magic, music, and a distinct spa-like aroma throughout the three floor performance space. The design elements, including sets, costumes, music, lighting, food, and beverages (there are a few small food and drink items offered throughout) are intricate and unique.
At a typical theatrical performance, each audience member has the opportunity to observe 100% of the production. A failure to witness the entirety of a performance is just that, a failure. In theory, there is no variety in what is observed by the audience member-to-member. Traditional theater values completeness over uniqueness.
At an immersive performance the priority is switched. No audience member will be able to observe 100% of the production but each audience member’s experience is, in theory, different from every other audience member’s experience. The problem with this approach is that it can leave audience members feeling like they’re missing out on interesting and important portions of the show. This is especially true at “choose your own adventure” types of productions, where one’s experience is liable to be unique, uniquely boring that is.
Then She Fell manages to balance these two competing interests. Each audience member experiences a unique but also fulsome performance. You see big scenes and small scenes, group scenes and private scenes, loud scenes and quiet scenes, it is not 100% complete but it is comprehensive, put another way you get your money’s worth.
This production opened to a strong critical praise over a year ago. It recently celebrated its one-year anniversary, which is a remarkable achievement in the world of independent dance and theater. It also recently won a 2013 New York Dance and Performance Award (“Bessie”) for Outstanding Production Performed in a Small Capacity Venue.
We strongly recommend it.
LOCATION
The Kingsland Ward at St. Johns
195 Maujer Street
Brooklyn, New York
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RUNNING TIME
Two hours, no intermission
TICKETS
$95-$200 (click to purchase tickets from Artful.ly, the official ticket seller for Then She Fell)
DATES
Performances through August 31, 2014
REVIEWS & NEWS
Reviews
Backstage
Locked in the building’s seemingly endless rooms, floors, corners, and crevices is an evening that is as total and topsy-turvy as it is satisfying and magical.
New Statesman
Lewis Carroll’s ill-fated obsession with the prepubescent Alice
New York Times
Lewis Carroll Is in a Hospital; ‘Then She Fell’ at Greenpoint Hospital in Brooklyn
Stage and Cinema
Through every door in the abandoned Kingsland Ward at St. John’s institutional facility lies an enchanting new scene inspired by Alice in Wonderland.
Time Out New York
But you begin to realize that Third Rail Projects’ interactive riff on Lewis Carroll’s Alice books is using a similar language to give you a different experience: When you peer into the looking glass, it stares right back at you.
News
Culturadar
Culturadar Blogger Shoshana Greenberg talks to Third Rail Projects’ Co-Artistic Director Jennine Willett
Deep Media
Way-Way-Off-Broadway: How the immersive theater of ‘Then She Fell’ resonates with the digital world
CAST & CREW
(partial list)
Written, directed, designed, and choreographed by Zach Morris, Tom Pearson, and Jennine Willett