The Experience Theater Project is staging their production of Great Gatsby’s Daisy. The story is based on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby reimagined and adapted by the play’s director, Alisa Stewart. The play will run on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evenings between January 28 and February 20.
The play is being produced in the Masonic lodge at 4690 SW Watson Avenue, which has been transformed into a 1920’s world of “prohibition, jazz and the recklessness of flappers” according to the theater company website. The play is being staged as an immersion experience so audience members will be encouraged to follow cast members as they move from one area to another.
“Immersion theater is what I thrive on,” says Stewart who has adapted the play to explore an underlying thread of the influence of race on the American dream, a concept she discovered in the writings of Janet Savage. “The entire experience is one in which we try to make it as if you are entering the past.” We are essentially building what amounts to a tv set, where people can wander through the spaces through the telling of the story. It’s fun but it’s a lot of work to build.
Playgoers will visit a speakeasy, a mansion and a cottage during the performance. “The biggest challenge with immersion theater is (that) every element must be complete and authentic. People are right there and they’re going to see everything,” Stewart says, “so every element must be authentic and complete.”
Attendance will be limited to 25 people for each show. Audience members must bring proof of their vaccination status or the results of a negative covid test taken within 72 hours of the performance. And all audience members must wear masks throughout the play. Beverages will be available for purchase at the show which will run 2 hours with a 15 minute intermission. Tickets can be purchased online at their website: experiencetheaterproject.org or at the door.