After wandering away from the bar, my last hour began watching a scene in a bedroom and coming to the increasingly strong and eventually undeniable realization that there was a secret passage in the room. I feel a little silly in my hesitation to use it; the elevator operator introducing us to the show encouraged boldness and if the chance to follow a secret passage isn't the time to be bold, I don't know what is.
That said, this was perhaps my most conventional hour. This definition of convention includes nudity, male nudity at that, so worry not, we're still talking experimental theater. However, I have taken to heart out of context advice from over at L'Hote: don't be afraid to do something even if it might make you look like a stereotype or a naïf. So, after my sojourn through a hidden gateway I resumed exploring and travelled down to the lower levels of the Hotel. There's a grand ballroom that was at the time of my arrival functioning as Birnam Wood. Rather cleverly, the ballroom is surrounded by a balcony which makes it one of the better spots for mass gatherings and having one's choice of multiple scenes. Passing through the mobile forest, I walked into an altar to see MacBeth praying. Rest assured, his dear wife soon arrived to put a stop to that in a manner that was perhaps more vampiric than traditionally seductive.
While both impressed me - playing the dead as MacBeth did briefly can under circumstances look as challenging as playing the quick - I chose to follow Lady MacBeth into the ballroom as she readied the space for a dance. That proved to be one of my more memorable choices, as she came walking in my direction and after I made one small step out of the way I realized she was headed towards me rather than past me. She took my hand, stroked my palm briefly, gave it a light kiss and then closed it around nothing at all. This is not one of the vaunted one on one scenes - the cast do choose people for simple interactions as I witnessed a handful of times later that night - but I'll admit, the odd sensation of interacting with a character probably hooked me into seeing that particular plotline through.
If you don't know the rest of the tale of the Scottish play, you probably shouldn't hear it from me. Suffice to say the cleaning off of blood was handled quite well and left MacBeth as exposed as his wife had been earlier, but for him it was at a far lower point in his life. The downside of following one of the main plots is that there are far more observers about, but the principles made use of all of the space available to them and I never felt crowded out of the action. The show ends as the ghostly guests are gathered together, for a scene that I'm told plays different for the final iteration of each set. We were then let out to live music at the initial bar to discuss what went down and gird ourselves for the long trek back to Brooklyn.
So after that show, my main gameplay tip would be to focus on big picture exploration. I might also recommend leading off with a more conventional experience of picking an actor or perhaps an object to follow and then setting of on your own after you come to recognize a few more of the players and how they fit together. On a more practical note, a watch that lights up can be quite handy and contacts are to be preferred to glasses if at all possible. Finally, I largely avoided spoilers, but if you're likely to only go once it may well be worth finding some online playbill or the like. I generally found the experience was enhanced when I knew who someone was. For tips on performing well as an observer and getting a one-on-one scene you'll have to go elsewhere, but I think it is safe to say that being an active observer and being quick to follow things that catch your eye is quite often rewarded.
Source: Bought my own ticket, but only made it up because Matt suggested it and did most of the driving. Thanks Matt and thanks Brainy Gamer for initially piquing my interest. Also, thanks to Ian and Kris for the lodging!
Recent Comments