Speakeasy Dollhouse: The Brothers Booth – Tickets, Location, Reviews
The Brothers Booth is the second immersive theatrical adventure mounted in the Speakeasy Dollhouse series by Cynthia von Buhler. The first in the series, The Bloody Beginning, continues most Saturdays at a secret location on the Lower East Side.
The historic Players Club, a members-only club for artists located on Gramercy Park, hosts The Brothers Booth one Saturday a month. Audience members roam the Club’s decorated halls and watch traditional playacting scenes, musical numbers, and dance elements performed in separate rooms.
The story in The Brothers Booth is based on the sibling rivalry between Edwin Booth, one of the greatest theater actors of the 19th century, and John Wilkes Booth, an aspiring actor and the man who assassinated President Lincoln in 1865. The show is set in 1919, as Edwina Booth, Edwin’s daughter, arrives at the Players Club (which Edwin Booth founded) to unveil a statue honoring her father but the painful history of the Booth family overshadows the happy occasion.
Maxamoo
The most impressive aspects of The Brothers Booth are the attention to design detail and the pleasure of being at the Players Club. There is a lot to look at and absorb. The commitment of the performers to their characters is also praiseworthy. The actors assume their characters for the entirety of the evening, engaging in spontaneous conversations with the audience and responding to everything that happens around them in character.
Many scenes occur simultaneously in separate rooms so don’t expect to see everything and, like many immersive performances, it’s not always easy or necessary to follow the narrative. The scenes we did encounter — mostly those between the two brothers — were compelling, addressing the brothers’ political dispute in the antebellum period, professional rivalry and different views about acting, and their relationship with their parents.
In addition to straightforward scenes performed at scattered locations throughout the Players Club, there is a social element to The Brothers Booth. Upon entering the performance, each audience member receives a “character card,” encouraging you to adopt a specified persona and certain actors are dedicated to striking up conversations with the audience. But rather than engage these characters mostly wandered aimlessly, showing little initiative to follow-up on this part of the game and engage the audience’s alter egos. It’s entirely up to each audience member to decide how engrossed to be in this experience, and those who are not fully up to the task might feel a little lost.
For future shows we’d recommend the production better police audience members using their phones. Rampant phone use, including flash photograph, was very distracting.
Public Opinion
@micflash: Had an amazing time at the Speakeasy Dollhouse play last night! http://instagram.com/p/mczgHaCnTw/
Critics’ Reviews
The AndyGram
Speakeasy Dollhouse: The Brothers Booth is Magical and spontaneous
Theater Pizzazz
Lost in the Crowd
Theatre is Easy
Journey to a glamorous party in 1919 in this interactive theatrical event
TICKETS
$75-$125 (click here for tickets)
DATES
Sat, May 3 at 8pm
Sat, June 7 at 8pm
Sat, July 12 at 8pm
LOCATION
The Players Club (instructions to the secret entrance are emailed to ticket holders)
16 Gramercy Park South
New York City
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RUNNING TIME
2 hours 30 minutes
CAST & CREW
(partial list)
Conceived and written by Cynthia von Buhler
Directed by Wes Grantom
Featuring Eric Gravez, Ryan Wesen, Tansy, Jonas Barranca, Victor Barranca, Chrissy Basham, Daniel Burns, Laura Epperson, Russell Farhang, Chris Fink, Katelan Foisy, E. James Ford, Skyler Max Gallun, Ashley Grombol, Jenny Harder, Silent James, Lord Kat, Alexandra Kopko, Delysia LaChatte, Justin Moore, Travis Moore, Dan Olson, Erin Orr, William Otterson, Natalie Rich, Hannah Rose, Samantha Rosenrater, Sarah Vogt and Allen Wilcox