RITUAL Immersive Performance Will Premiere in New York This Month

In their first outing since the onset of COVID-19, immersive theater company Witness is returning to New York with a new installation based on Aeschylus's The Oresteia. A storefront space in the East Village will be transformed into a safehouse outside Argos, occupied continuously by a single actor portraying Orestes.

Visitors will be invited to explore the entire set in this free public event, rummaging through a fully-designed space replete with ancient family mementos and ritual artifacts. All the while around them, Orestes spends his day undertaking Greek religious rituals in an attempt to make silent gods speak to him once more.

Arjun Pande takes on the role of Orestes for the entire 8-hour duration of this contemporary spin on The Oresteia. Pande featured in Witness's previous immersive production, Last Days of the Tsars, before it was shut down due to COVID-19 in March 2020. Ritual is directed by Charlotte Murray and written by Michael Bontatibus, and features lighting design by Elizabeth M. Stewart and sound design by Trey McGee.

This project is supported by the New York City Artist Corps Grants. Bontatibus and Murray are two of 3,000 New York City-based artists to receive grants through the City Artist Corps Grants program, presented by The New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA), with support from the Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment (MOME) as well as Queens Theatre.

More information about Ritual, including address, hours, and vaccination policies, can be found at www.witnessimmersive.com.

Photo Credit: Carly Hoogendyk