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technicolorfamiliar · 3 months ago

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THE DEATH OF RASPUTIN PART II: Characters, Specific Performances, and more on my individual experience [Part I here]

Again, big, big spoilers, seriously.

Note: These are crazy good, top tier performances. I'm sorry I could only see one show, I wish I could have seen more stuff, followed more characters. It runs through the end of May and as of now there is no further extension (although I know I am not alone in trying to manifest Pride Month DoR). There are still some tickets left so if there's a chance anyone happens to read this and is on the fence about going for whatever reason, take this as your sign, do it now.

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Petrograd. 1916.

I heard the rumors before I ever saw the man himself. Accusations! slander! his name and reputation smeared in the press. Rasputin is a bad man. At least that's what the papers say.

It's a story we all have heard before: a man, perhaps very like someone you know, is given sudden and overwhelming access to unimaginable wealth and influence. And very soon he begins to use and abuse his newfound power to get anything and everything, and anyone, he wants.

All the same, I thought to myself, this may be my only chance to visit Petrograd, St Petersburg to the Western world. I should try to see what all the fuss is about, see whether or not Rasputin really is as wicked as they say.

He was in the middle of a sermon, the kind which at first sounds almost nonsensical to the uninitiated. He draws close to the crowd, and with sweeping gestures of his arms and hands, tells, no, implores us to breathe together as one. This is how Rasputin pulls you in, with a genuineness that cannot be faked -- for whatever questionable things he may do otherwise, Rasputin does appear to believe in what he's selling. And what is he selling exactly? Well, more on that later.

From the corner of the cottage, he is watched carefully by his acolyte Lohktina. But perhaps this is unfair; Lohktina will later reveal she has more agency and a connection to forces far older and more powerful than the corrupted spirituality Rasputin clings to in his last days.

Upon our arrival in Petrograd, we are dropped into a time when Rasputin is lost to the dopamine rush of wealth and drink and sex. He is no longer truly one of the common people; he is too close (like, way too close, damn) to the Romanovs to fully maintain any sense of connection to his peasant roots. The Rasputin we meet just wants to fuckin party.

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This Rasputin, the Rasputin of DoR, is wild, charismatic, manipulative, fervent, drunk most of the time, and deeply, deeply horny. At times he's also pretty obnoxious and pathetic. Rasputin The Man was gross and violent and creepy. Rasputin The Character is an unhinged party boy and I am 100% here for it. It's a surprising performance, I found myself more amused by him than anything else. When an ecstatic ritual is violently broken up by Orthodox extremist Iliodor, Rasputin wails dramatically as the mad monk berates and beats him with a crucifix. He desperately scurries away from Iliodor's blows crying for the Tzarina ("TAKE ME TO MAMA", "I WANT TO SEE MAMAAA", etc). And when finally Iliodor drags him upstairs, shouting out from the landing for all to witness Rasputin the sinful charlatan's shame, Rasputin reunites with Alexandra and they both yell at Iliodor to GTFO. Back in Mama's arms, Rasputin becomes like an extremely naughty, spoiled child, but they also can't keep their hands off each other (yikes), it's a weird dynamic.

But it's the Tzarina, who reluctantly pushes him away. Rasputin sulks a bit, but recovers quickly as they both get absolutely plastered and declare the swift firings of various cabinet ministers, shouting at Petra, the Romanov's maid who crouches over a busted typewriter, to take dictation. Rasputin gleefully echoes everything the increasingly paranoid and tragic Alexandra says, drunkenly rolling around on the furniture, upside down and kicking his legs in the air. It's Late Imperialist Russia Mean Girls, basically. This minister has ugly clothes, that one smells bad, that kind of thing. It's positively hysterical. But also kind of sad.

As they continue to scheme and cackle and fawn over one another, I follow Petra out of the room. I had been running into her all evening, first when I'd had to abandon Rasputin early on when he was summoned to Alexandra's side. The Tzarina's agonized cries drew everyone else to her as well, so I split off from the group to find Petra quietly praying in a dimly lit chapel. Although whether she was praying for guidance or forgiveness I could not say.

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She carries a large box. She carries it in front of her with a sense of authority, with the confidence of someone above her station. Like Rasputin, Petra has a foot in both worlds. Although she is not of the aristocracy, she is able to move among them almost unseen, acting as the eyes and ears of the revolutionaries downstairs in Katya's bar, which is where she's carrying her mystery box.

She is greeted by the proprietress Katya and their co-conspirator Fyodor. Petra declares, "We will eat well tonight!", tearing the lid off the box. Fyodor reaches in and pulls out an enormous pig's head (it's a prop, relax) -- Petra is, among other things, an expert thief. She regularly steals from the royal family; food, décor, correspondence, whatever she can easily carry.

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Another note: Some of the performers use a Russian dialect, some don't. In any other situation, I would say something annoying like, eVEry oNe SHoULd haVe A diALeCt Or nO oNe sHOuLD. But in DoR, it really didn't bother me. And I'm not a real actor, I never did any dialect training so I'm not able to weigh in on the accuracy of the dialect work in this show, but again who cares? I love hearing it, like, if an actor can do that, fucking go for it I say.

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The times are tough, they are grim, but in Katya's bar all are welcome (well, almost all) to drink and dance in spite of it all. Even someone like Felix Yusupov won't be kicked to the curb. Felix was one of the first people I encountered in Petrograd; he was tormenting an increasingly disturbed Iliodor by reading off various defamatory newspaper headlines about Rasputin. Tall, sporting an ironic expression, he has a swagger only the very, very rich and entitled seem to have without affectation. When Rasputin races into the bar with Lohktina and starts to try to get everyone to dance, Felix draws up to a few of us, rolls his eyes and remarks, "He's kind of annoying, isn't he?" Felix will of course later become Rasputin's assassin. This may explain his presence in the bar with all these people he probably wouldn't be caught dead with otherwise.

Shouldering his way through the crowd, the Tzar's Dread Uncle barks at the workers and peasants (and Felix): "What the fuck is that? What the fuck are they doing?? You call that dancing?!" The dancers either mostly ignore or taunt him, clearly no one takes him seriously.

But my eye keeps being drawn to Lohktina. When everyone was starting to dance, she looked almost embarrassed. She is out of place in Katya's bar; her faith and devotion is literally written on her, her white smock is covered in symbols and glyphs the color of dirt or dried blood. It takes a lot of encouragement to get her to come out of her shell, but when she does she quickly picks up their steps and joins in their exuberance, something free and joyous in her smile.

After the dance, the crowd is made to disperse, many of us following Lohktina and Rasputin back to his cottage. His mind is clearly on one thing only, but interestingly instead of playing the scene in the most obvious way, we watch (and this whole thing is interesting because the characters know we're there the rest of the time, we are not invisible, so Rasputin knows there are like 30 people in his bedroom with him and Lohktina…) as he carefully dresses her in a heavy gold and ivory embroidered robe, setting a glittering crown on her head. He steps back to look at her, overcome. But Lohktina's face turns stony, her body language alone strong enough to hold him back. Rasputin does not force himself on her. The dynamic has completely shifted. Lohktina is in charge now. But maybe she always was.

Saying very little, she tells him to sit in a chair in the corner of the room. She stands in front of him, radiating a quiet strength, and drops the imperial robe in a heap on the floor. She tears the crown from her head. She cannot be made into some perfect fantasy image of a saint -- or of the Tzarina. Dressed in her own ceremonial costume, Lohktina commands the room. In a voice that's barely above a whisper, she instructs us all to kneel. (This is the part where I regret my decision to sidle along the edge of the room to get a better view; it put me right next to Rasputin's chair which was A Bad Mistake.) Into Rasputin's hands and mouth she places a long dark red ribbon, and in a long line stretching from his feet she sets out her tools. These are not things that could be found on any church altar, they are from the earth, from animals, and she uses them to assert her power and autonomy over the man in the chair who has become uh… I don't know how to describe anything Rasputin is doing in this scene without it sounding pornographic. But to be abundantly clear, it's not outright explicit, he's just noisy. There's a lot of loud whimpering and begging.

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I don't remember how we wound up outside the cottage, but suddenly we're all standing in a circle around Rasputin. He is moved by what has just transpired, touched by the holy spirit… or whatever. This is a sermon, but it's also an ecstatic ritual. Lohktina has given him the inspiration, he speaks on how best to know God, proclaiming with conviction that the only way to truly know God is through sinful love. Colored lights pulse to an electronic dance beat, and suddenly Lohktina's red ribbon is in my hands and being threaded around the circle, forming a ring around Rasputin who is getting more and more worked up as he continues to preach his message. It was around this point where I remember thinking, this makes sense, the nonsensical ramblings I heard earlier now sounding more like good advice -- and then I think to myself, ohhh so this is how people get indoctrinated into cults. But it's all fun and games until someone gets stabbed, poisoned, shot, beaten, shot again, and drowned.

At some point, Petra appears on my left, a bottle of vodka in her hand. She and Lohktina guide us in turning the innermost portion of the ring, those of us clutching the ribbon, into something living and breathing, an organism made up of new initiates expanding and contracting with each breath as we orbit around the increasingly frenetic Rasputin. He reaches up to heaven and out to us, but his voice is almost lost under the music and the sound of our footsteps. Or at least I'm too busy trying not to step on the heels of the poor person to my right or smash my left shoulder too hard into Petra to listen to him at this point.

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This scene seems so far away from the path I find myself on later, deeper into the palace. The revolutionaries broadcast their messages over the radio from a small room upstairs. Petra and Fyodor seem like they are barely clinging to any hope of change or of justice. The fire behind their movement is in danger of going out. The war especially weighs heavy on their hearts. We learn that Petra's husband has been killed at the front. It is no secret that she loved him very much. She tells us that he taught her how to read. Her grief informs her actions going forward just as much as her dedication to the rights of the workers. But she and Fyodor are not of the same mind when it comes to how to ignite the spark of revolution.

The earlier frenzied feeling of connection to something greater slowly grinds to a halt. These scenes with Petra bring the narrative back down to earth, grounding this world in reality. Good people are dying in a pointless war started by the monarchs in their ivory towers, and for what? The destruction and the bloodshed hardly touches them. This sense of loss and hopelessness are embodied in the quiet song Petra sings as she moves through the palace rooms, tidying up, putting things away that don't belong to her. It's a silly, nonsense song about animals you might sing to a child, but there are no children to comfort now, only sad and desperate adults all grasping at some small semblance of control.

She ducks into a dressing room, probably the Tzarina's. It's quiet now, and when she turns to us, there are tears in her eyes. Petra's world is not the world of the royal family and those at their side, nor is it entirely the world of Kayta and Fyodor. But she still has a part to play. She reveals to us a small knife hidden in her belt. How she plans to use it and who she plans to use it on is not clear.

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Maybe she is able to gather some strength from us, from our rapt attention and empathy for her story, because she announces that we will be going to the Tzar's party, damn it, why not? She asks us what she should wear, holding up different things from the Tzarina's closet. She chooses a gown and one or two small items for each of us and leads us to the grand ballroom where Fyodor and a small army have gathered a pile of crates of explosives. She cries out, no longer able to contain her heartbreak, and runs to him. This is not the way, she screams, they cannot be contributors to the unending cycle of violence. But I wonder if maybe she knows there is no other way, their fate has already been decided for them.

Fyodor instructs his helpers to hide the crates of dynamite, the party guests will be arriving shortly and they don't want to get caught. The beginnings of a waltz begin to fill the ballroom. Some people dance together with varying degrees of enthusiasm. Petra asks me if I want to dance and I say yes against my better judgment. It's awkward, but she's very nice to me in spite of my two left feet and constant apologies.

In burst the Tzar and Tzarina in full court finery. The crowd fills in and I get stuck in the back somehow. Everyone is there, and they all bow to the Tzar who turns to address his subjects. It is his birthday party, he says. But it is also a celebration of suffering. We all laugh nervously. We know how this all ends.

As the main players waltz together, I try to find a space where I can see better at the far end of the room. This puts me directly beneath, of all things, a rifle hanging high up on the wall. I don't notice the rifle until, as the dance grows into a confusion of mixed partners and general chaos, first Felix tries to reach for it but he's just slightly too short. Then Uncle Dread stomps over and tries to reach it, but he's also too short. Then the two of them pick up Iliodor so he can grab the rifle, and before anyone can take another breath, they're lined up with Rasputin and there's the impossibly loud sound of a shot. The music cuts out, there's not a single sound, just dead silence for a moment before the Tzarina lets out a blood curdling scream.

Everything is thrown into complete chaos, it's impossible to know where to look, who to look for, Rasputin is dead on the floor and everyone else is moving so fast, a hundred things are happening at once that I almost miss Katya and Fyodor and the dynamite. Someone screams "No!" but it's too late, Katya sets off the explosives, the lights are out and back on again and again and again, the colors of fire, the sound of the blast like fireworks ringing off the ballroom walls. Eventually it finally goes silent and the lights slowly come back up just enough to see the bodies. Everyone is dead.

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Or are they?

The doors at the far end of the room open slowly revealing a bright white light. One figure rises on shaky legs. We all know who it is. Who else could it be?

Rasputin, or the idea of Rasputin, saunters away like a cat on his ninth life, disappearing into the blinding light. The doors slam shut. End of play.

#my writing #the death of rasputin #artemis is burning #immersive theater #sorry this post is so long i don't know how to shut up

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technicolorfamiliar · 3 months ago

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THE DEATH OF RASPUTIN PART I: General Impressions, Design, and Concept

Note: This write up has spoilers on top of spoilers with a side of spoilers. But I wanted to share all this because the social media posts from attendees have been pretty generic and not really doing much to hype the show beyond "everyone wears black and we ride the ferry!"

The short, totally spoiler-free version is this -- I have not seen any kind of immersive theater this well-crafted, this unique, this clever in many, many years. From the direction to the performances to the design to the marketing to the location, it's all working. Why? Because it's fun. Believe it.

For a long time I've been feeling pretty bummed out by immersive theater in general and completely uninspired to make any kind of "serious" art myself. Historically, immersive theater was THE thing that gave me direction and focus in my personal artwork, ask just about anyone who knows me. But I left The Death of Rasputin vibrating with the residual energy of the show. I haven't been this excited by a new piece of art in a long time. That's entirely thanks to the incredible team who conceived, built, perform, and run this show. If you are in or anywhere near New York City this month, get tickets to this thing immediately.

Read on for a totally spoilery account of my time in the Winter Palace, but don't say I didn't warn you.

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General Impressions:

The Death of Rasputin is everything immersive theater should be. It's surprisingly funny, at times downright ridiculous. It's also deeply tragic, the specter of the Great War and the subjugation of the working class by the Russian elites are ever present. It's intense; you may be invited to conspire with the leaders of the revolution, or surrender to ecstatic shared rituals led by Grigori Rasputin himself.

There is an urgency and a fervor to The Death of Rasputin. It felt at times like being in caught up in a great storm, tossed around between scenes of debauchery and wild celebration in the face of impending destruction. Sometimes I felt like I was in the eye of that storm, where quiet insight began to put things in perspective.

It is, as I said above, exceedingly well-crafted.

First of all, regardless of whether Governors Island was their first pick of venue, it's kind of a genius move having the show out there. There's something really special about having to cross a body of water, having to go on a collective journey, to get to the show. The ferry is like a liminal space all its own -- to be among a small army of people all dressed in black on a boat crossing a river, travelling literally from the real world to the world of the show, it's brilliant. Practical and necessary, yes. But also something completely unique to DoR and adds to the whole experience.

I was curious how they would differentiate between the audience and performers. But I thought DoR's all-black dress code was an easy way to separate the guests from the characters, and it invites a sense of participation before you even set foot on Governor's Island. (I had a really cool outfit, at least I thought so, and not a single photo to prove it.) I also think removing the sense of anonymity that a masked show can give encourages better audience behavior, more politeness, even though it means everyone can see everyone else's various face journeys the whole time.

In the weeks leading up to my trip up to New York, it was important to me to avoid spoilers for the show itself. So there was some mild concern in the back of my mind when I heard from multiple sources that DoR features a lot of interactivity. I was worried they were going to make me solve puzzles; I'd been to a couple smaller interactive-y immersive shows where the whole point was solving riddles and code cracking. Maybe that's fine for some people but it is decidedly not my thing. My brain shuts down when I'm put on the spot like that and I end up having a terrible time. But I can now report with full confidence that no one in DoR made me solve a single puzzle, and honestly thank god. However, I will say that I had an incredibly awkward moment when one of the performers asked me to waltz with her. My heart said yes, but my body said fuuuck no. She was very nice to me though, so I felt like I had to. And because of a sense of goofiness threaded throughout the show, feeling like a huge dork was fine because there were other people being just as dorky just across the room.

A big bonus for me was the 90 minute run time. Apparently other people aren’t as into this as I am. One of the creatives told me after the show and that people have been telling them that the show should be three hours long and have three hour-long loops like Punchdrunk's work does. I guess because that's what most immersive fans are used to. But I say no thank you to that, I am in my late 30s and being on my feet running around and standing for three hours is something my body no longer easily recovers from. And because of the pacing and high energy of DoR pretty much from top of show, I can’t imagine the performers would want to be going at that speed for three hours, repeating the same level of intensity over and over in one night.

A very minor issue I had as someone who isn't super tall was getting stuck behind people. It was usually easy enough to creep along the edges of the room to find a break in the crowd, but sometimes I found myself wishing there were levels, like maybe some low platforms to help out people stuck in the back. But the rooms in the performance space generally aren't large enough to accommodate this, so it's not a huge deal breaker.

Going in, I had the impression for some reason, not sure why, that there weren't any 1:1s. Apparently there are a few, or so I hear, but they're not the point of the show the way they became for Sleep No More, etc. The weekend crowd I saw the show with was generally pretty chill and seemed to be a mix of people who were super into it and knew the ropes and people who looked like this might have been their first immersive show ever. Creating different kinds of opportunities and ways for audiences to enjoy this show, either as an active participant (to an extent) or purely as an observer, or somewhere in between, was really smart on the creators' part. It lowers the stakes for the audience, there's less fear of missing out, and so people can chill out, be present, and just enjoy the show and the company of their fellow audience members for a change.

Speaking of being present, I realized later that for once I didn't spend the whole time thinking about the mechanics of the show. I wasn't anxious about being in the way, I wasn't worried about being in the right place at the right time, I didn't have to plan ahead in order to maximize my experience. At Punchdrunk shows, I was always thinking two or three steps ahead to be close to the right exit or in the best spot to get the best view of a specific scene. At Life and Trust, which I only saw once, I was too aware of the structure and cues built into the sound and lighting design. But at The Death of Rasputin, something or maybe a combination of things happened early on to get me out of my head that allowed me to relax and trust the show and trust my intuition in an unfamiliar space.

Oh, and there's merch! From totes and posters to custom jewelry and character inspired fragrances, they're adding new stuff all the time. I grabbed a sticker pack but have yet to stick them anywhere -- my inner 90s kid covets stickers and must find the absolute most perfect place for them before I remove them from their sheets can you tell this is why I am the way I am??

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The Design:

The set design is, in my opinion, just enough. It serves the story without distracting from it. The magical touches don't take away any focus from the narrative but rather enhance it. During an impassioned sermon and group breathing exercise in Rasputin's Siberian cottage, at one point he looked up, so I looked up too, and the ceiling was covered in dangling crystals, hanging just over our heads like melting snow or stars. The bar is dressed in well-worn textiles and propaganda of the revolution, and is bathed in a wash of red from the hanging paper lanterns. There is a military outpost, a chapel, palace rooms, and a grand ballroom. Apparently there is a secret passage way somewhere. Here and there I noticed a few subtle room scents, another nice detail and perhaps familiar to SNM fans. Maybe they don't have the biggest budget in the world, but they're really doing a lot with the small space they have.

Immediately upon entering the show, you can hear multiple scenes happening simultaneously. Even in the bar when the first crowd enters the show, you can hear their footsteps overhead which was a cool moment, everyone left in the bar in a lingering dead silence and just the sound of creaking floorboards over a low drone. But upstairs the walls aren't always flush to the ceiling and the people of Petrograd have a lot of problems and a lot of feelings, so there's quite a lot of sound bleed. At first, I was concerned this would be majorly distracting but after a while I grew used to it. I also can’t say enough good things about the sound design itself; like the set design it's not obtrusive, it's there to enhance the story and the overall vibes. Because the sound was designed by the GOAT Stephen Dobbie, it's got all the things I love: drones, period and culturally appropriate music, ticking clocks, heartbeats, and naturally the occasional electronic club track. And after the finale, everyone walks back down to the bar to, what else, "Rasputin" by Boney M.

Similarly, the costume design is a combination of pieces suggestive of the various Russian social classes in the early 20th century and things that are more modern and intended to evoke certain moods or personality traits rather than aim for total historical accuracy. And this is maybe the only immersive show these days where that works. The production isn't taking itself too seriously so the designers are given room to have fun and take some much appreciated creative liberties.

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The Story/Concept/Writing:

The Death of Rasputin is a satire, possibly it could even be called a dark comedy. It's smart without being pretentious, and relevant without being too obvious. The humor in the show ranges from subtle to outrageous and back again. There are also moments that are staggeringly heartbreaking. And regarding the story itself, I imagine if someone walked into this show with zero prior knowledge about this corner of history they would probably be able to piece it together. I'd just finished Unobscured's fourth season, which is ten episodes specifically about Rasputin, the Romanovs, Russia's part in WWI, and a little about the early days of the Russian Revolution, so I felt pretty prepared. I definitely recommend it to anyone like me, i.e. anyone who actually enjoys doing a little homework before going to an immersive show.

That said: DO NOT expect this show to be a history lesson. I just came across a random blog review where the author's main take away was that they didn't learn anything. Who goes to immersive theater to learn things?? It baffles the mind.

I'd be curious to know how much of the dialogue in DoR is scripted. There are some wonderful monologues that must be, but there's so much room for improv because of the high level of interaction between the performers and the audience. The characters constantly break the fourth wall to the point I don't even think there is one to begin with. The audience is very much there, we are present at these events and with these characters. They see us just as much as we see them. I wasn't sure I'd like this much interactivity, but it's just the right amount. You might be asked to carry or hold or wear something, read aloud something written, hide (prop) explosives, or any number of similarly easy tasks.

The mix of historical figures and constructed characters is interesting. Most of the characters were real people. But then there are the three characters who represent the working class. These characters had to have been almost entirely created from scratch, and what a fun and fascinating exercise that must have been. I would love to know how much of Katya, Fyodor, and Petra were already on the page and how much was from what the actors brought to the table. But tbh that's probably true across the board because even the historic characters are clearly not intended to be 100% true to life for the sake of the story the creators are trying to tell, and I mean that in the best way possible.

Oh, uhh, the show is, like, way hornier than I was expecting. I mean, yeah, typically there's some sexy stuff in this style of immersive show, and in this case… it's about Rasputin, historically a very horny man. I made the mistake of sitting right next to the chair where Lohktina puts Rasputin during her ritual in the cottage. O___O Maybe it feels like A Lot because it's a dialogue heavy show so everyone (especially Rasputin, jesus christ) is more vocal. Like… a lot. I've never been borderline uncomfortable in an immersive show because of any kind of sexuality or nudity or whatever, but this came close to making me feel like I should not be there, like this thing happening in front of me should be private?? There was nothing super explicit that I saw, but maybe it's just the vocal nature of the show that makes it feel more… just more lol.

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I just want to wrap up this first DoR post by saying it was so nice to walk out of an immersive show and feel genuinely surprised and light in a way I haven't in ages. Pretty much every immersive show I've seen has left me feeling devastated or, at least recently, frustrated. Life and Trust left me wanting something else, my last Sleep No More show felt like going to a wake, The Burnt City was hardcore depressing as hell, even Then She Fell wrecked me emotionally. But walking out of the finale of DoR, I felt buoyant for a change, even though the show ends in death and destruction. I think part of it maybe is that the cast is having fun? And that sense of fun is contagious? Maybe I'm speaking out of turn, I didn't speak to many cast members after the show, but it certainly seems that way.

#my writing #the death of rasputin #artemis is burning #immersive theater #this show fucking rules i'm so glad i went

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technicolorfamiliar · 3 months ago

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Went to Petrograd, joined a cult.

#my photos #the death of rasputin #immersive theater #longer review coming soon bc i have a LOT to say #but the short version is: ahhhhh AHHHHHHH

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technicolorfamiliar · 4 months ago

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Me walking into The Death of Rasputin.

Me walking into The Burnt City.

#getting some serious mileage out of this meme

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technicolorfamiliar · 4 months ago

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Happy Beltane, don't forget to leave a self-righteous law enforcement officer out for the Wicker Man!

#my art #sketchbook #i did these ages ago #just trying to not take myself and my art so seriously #now i look at them and i think they could be acrylic charms?#how do people make acrylic charms?#do people still like stuff like that?#the wicker man

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technicolorfamiliar · 4 months ago

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As far as I can tell, hardly anyone is posting about this show on Tumblr yet. I am in no way affiliated with The Death of Rasputin or the creative company behind it, the all-women led Artemis is Burning. But idk it's got me dare I say actually excited about immersive theater again?

Like a lot of immersive shows, The Death of Rasputin is cloaked in mystery. There's very little indication of what audience members will be able to expect when the show opens next week on New York's Governor's Island. Although expectations may possibly be informed by the amount of brilliant well-known immersive theater creators and performers involved with the production. I mean, OG Sleep No More NYC Bald Witch/Danvers duo Hope Youngblood and Kelly Bartnik are among the brains behind this thing. That alone was enough to spark my interest even before they announced the stellar cast list and brought on Punchdrunk's Stephen Dobbie as sound designer.

Honestly, the more I read about this show the more hyped I get. Re: the characters, you've got Rasputin of course, but also Tsar Nicholas and Tsarina Alexandra, other members of the imperial family and court, as well as representatives of the proletariat and orthodox church. Audiences have to take the ferry from Manhattan to Governor's Island; there's a dress code; it sounds like creative (but not inappropriate) liberties are being taken with period accuracy; there's a revolution/party vibe they're pushing that allows for varying levels of audience interactivity. Knowing the little bit I do about this corner of history, I imagine the narrative that unfolds in The Death of Rasputin will be layered, challenging, and meant to provoke complex and contrasting feelings in the audience. There's no indication of exactly how much agency the audience will have, but all signs point to relatively more interaction and influence than say a Sleep No More or a Life & Trust type show.

I have to hand it to their marketing and social media team. The promo for TDoR has been so clever and so well-done. From day one, there's been a transparency and inclusive feeling to their online presence that I think goes a long way with an audience these days, at least it does in my book. In addition to their Kickstarter campaigns that had genuinely awesome rewards for donors, they have an incredibly active Instagram account where they've been sharing a boat load of production inspiration and memeable content (most of which now appears to have been archived), a Discord where users may or may not be able to interact with Rasputin himself, a Spotify playlist, and held what looked like an absolutely bonkers Rasputin look-alike contest in Washington Square Park. This is what I'm talking about, creating different kinds of opportunities for their audience to interact with one another. I love what they're doing, I'm sure it's a lot of work and a bear to organize, but it's so cool to see, even from afar.

There's also a pretty great interview with creators Ashley Brett Chipman and Hope Youngblood on The Best Stuff In The World podcast where they talk about the show, Artemis is Burning, immersive theater, and more.

As of the time I'm writing this post, TDoR is running April 17 - 27, 2025. Hopefully they will announce more dates for the spring and summer, but I honestly don't know if I'm going to be able to get to New York to see this show. I understand the tickets needing to cost as much as they do, but as someone from outside the NY area travel is a bitch not to mention expensive... that said I do have an outfit picked out in case I do go.

#immersive theater #the death of rasputin #artemis is burning

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