Strange Bird Stages Immersive Theatre/Escape Room Hybrid THE MAN FROM BEYOND

Houston audiences will experience theatre in a completely new way beginning this month.

New arts company Strange Bird Immersive is the first Houston theatre to focus exclusively on the immersive theatre genre already wildly popular in New York and London.

Strange Bird's inaugural production, THE MAN FROM BEYOND, will open at the new Silos at Sawyer Yards arts complex in Houston's Washington Avenue Arts District on Friday, February 10, for an open-ended run. The production is the first permanent immersive theatre installation in the United States outside New York.

Pioneered by such companies as Punchdrunk (SLEEP NO MORE, THE DROWNED MAN) and Third Rail Projects (THEN SHE FELL, THE GRAND PARADISE), the immersive theatre genre takes the audience out of their seats and puts them in the middle of the play. Performers often interact directly and spontaneously with the audience in a way that is not possible from the stage.

THE MAN FROM BEYOND combines immersive theatre with the problem-solving challenge of an escape room game. Four to eight audience members become participants in a séance hosted by eccentric medium Madame Daphne. Through encounters with the ghost of famed escape artist Harry Houdini, they must solve a series of challenges that will allow them to bring the story to its conclusion.

Strange Bird founding company member and Co-Artistic Director Haley E. R. Cooper is the director.

"The production is unlike anything Houston theatre-goers have ever experienced," said Cooper. "Immersive theatre tears down the wall that traditionally exists between performers and audience members. It's to traditional theatre what video games are to movies. By inviting our audience into the story as active participants instead of casual observers, we give you a personal stake in what's happening. You don't just watch the story, you are the story. You don't play a character - you stay yourself, but just who are you in the face of new and challenging situations? There is a thrill of starring in our game you cannot get from anything else."

Conceived by Cooper with her husband, Co-Artistic and Technical Director J. Cameron Cooper, the company also includes Puzzle Designer Nathan Walton and Actor/Sound Designer Bradley Winkler.

The theatre philosophy of the Coopers and Winkler was shaped through training in the Meisner acting technique with respected local acting coach Kim Tobin. "The focus of the Meisner technique is living truthfully in imaginary circumstances," said Cooper. "Through the immersive theatre medium, that becomes even more important to our performance since we interact directly with the audience."

THE MAN FROM BEYOND has been in preview performances since before Christmas, and will have its public opening February 10. "Because of the interactive nature of the show, it's really impossible to rehearse without an audience," says Winkler, who is originating the role of Houdini's ghost. "It's as much about improvisation as traditional acting. We needed an extended period of preview performances to practice both the technical aspects of the show and the audience interactions. Each performance is different from the last, and that difference is entirely up to the audience."

IF YOU GO:

Strange Bird Immersive presents
THE MAN FROM BEYOND
At The Silos at Sawyer Yards, 1502 Sawyer St., Suite 213, Houston, TX 77007

Remaining Preview Performance Dates and Times: Wednesday, February 8 @ 8:00p.m.; and Thursday, February 9 @ 8:00p.m.

Regular Performance Dates and Times Beginning Friday, February 10: Thursdays @ 8:00p.m.; Fridays @ 8:00p.m.; and Saturdays @ 4:00p.m., 8:00p.m.

Tickets: Previews: $15; General Admission (Friday & Saturday nights): $40; General Admission (Off-peak nights & matinees): $30. Available online at strangebirdimmersive.com/tickets.html.

Private performances (closed sales) available for the price of 7 tickets. Additional evenings and daytime performances available on request with minimum 4 participants. Contact info@strangebirdimmersive.com to schedule.

Visit www.strangebirdimmersive.com or follow on Facebook: www.facebook.com/strangebirdimmersive and Twitter: www.twitter.com/strangebirdimm.

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