Many of those who know me know that I live for a good theme night. I absolutely go crazy with dressing up and making a whole ritual of the event. So, when I found out that THE COLLECTIVE was set in a 1920s speakeasy, I was super excited to make the most of Prohibition by dressing up and fully immersing myself in this world. Even if it meant stirring up a little chaos in the process.
Our experience began about a day prior to our showtime, with an email and personality quiz to place us in one of four factions: Vine Street Crew, Velvet Curtain, Blackwater Group or Strongman Inc. These factions were later signified with a colored ribbon on our wrist; however, we were not tied to our factions and could switch loyalties if we wished.
After we arrived, we were brought into the main show space. Cocktail tables faced a simple stage with a podium and a table on it. This was where our journey truly began.
The format of the show was simple and effective: a seated scene to world build and introduce characters; the open world, exploration phase; and an ending scene to tie up the story in a nice little bow. Overall, the format worked really well and made immersive theatre extremely accessible for both newcomers to immersive play and veterans.
The open world portion of the show was filled with bouncing from one character to another for information. Audience members have the choice of receiving tasks for their faction, or opting to doing tasks for everyone, as free agents of sorts. My friend and I chose to do the latter, which led to some chaotic, but fun heists of our own. A lot of the tasks overall seemed to be a giant game of telephone, which led to some monotony. However, we had fun teaming up with others to achieve tasks in other creative ways.
The characters were all diverse and emulated characters from the 1920s rather well. Each actor seemed committed to their character and expertly navigated interactions that aligned with their goals and values. I particularly enjoyed the performances from Ethan Kaiser as Ray Glendora and Shelby Ryan Lee as Captain Seavey. Kaiser and Lee excelled in improv, which made for quite a few fun moments.
Overall, the powerhouse cast fueled the entire show, and I truly enjoyed all my interactions. Since character interaction drove the show, there were moments when we could not interact with those that we needed to because of some crowd bottlenecking. However, we would just pivot to another task and circle back later.
THE COLLECTIVE offers multiple different endings, which makes the show extremely replay-able. Overall, this show proved to be a fun way to explore the world of immersive theatre. I recommend checking THE COLLECTIVE out, whether you’re new to immersive theatre or a returning player!
THE COLLECTIVE is 21+ and runs at the Three Clubs through Saturday, June 24th, as a part of Hollywood Fringe! More information and tickets can be found here!
