The cheery bop of an 80s radio station echoed through my phone as I emotionally prepared myself for the newest interactive audio drama in the immersive world. EVERYTHING STARTS LIKE A KNOCK AT THE DOOR (KNOCK) quickly pulled me in with thoughtful and engaging storytelling while memorializing another life cut much too short.
Stepy Kamei’s KNOCK deftly establishes itself as a strong audio drama following the success of its predecessors, “We Should Meet in Air” and “One Bad Day”. Kamei’s formula for creating poignant audio immersives truly shines in this 25-minute phone call production.
KNOCK provided a potential look into the thoughts and emotions American actress Rebecca Schaeffer may have been experiencing moments before she met her untimely death at the hands of a stalker. Kamei beautifully portrayed Rebecca and expertly built a rapport that left me feeling a full range of emotions as the story played out. Kamei’s use of sound and music to both provide a setting and allude to the next scene proved to be extremely effective. This detail was one of my favorite parts of the show!
KNOCK clearly demonstrates how audio experiences, when done properly, can effectively engage an individual while establishing an emotional connection in record timing. While the initial scene used to ease me into the experience seemed to hinder the flow of the show, I did love how the proceeds from the show will go to Thursday’s Child, the National Youth Advocacy Hotline that Rebecca was a spokesperson for. Overall, I highly recommend experiencing this wonderful audio drama.
EVERYTHING STARTS LIKE A KNOCK AT THE DOOR runs from on weekdays, June 5-30th. Tickets are $30 and a10% of all proceeds go to Thursday’s Child. More information and tickets can be found here!
