The city of Bedford, Ohio, with it’s old-fashioned public square surrounded by preserved historic buildings and natural beauty, will be the backdrop this week for an immersive theater production called “Chapter 1: Wanderlust.” As the title implies, this will be the first installment of a much larger planned theatrical series called “Shadow of the Run,” that deals with infamous murders in Cleveland’s history. That series is scheduled to begin next year.
Most people in Northeast Ohio may not be as familiar with immersive-type live shows, where the audience members are set in the middle of the action. The experience becomes a type of “Choose Your Own Adventure” scenario, where each audience member’s impressions are determined by the choices he or she makes.
An example of a recently successful immersive play nationally has been “Sleep No More,” in New York. The show takes place in various rooms in an old hotel in New York, and has been running continuously since 2009.
This week’s production in Bedford, “Chapter 1: Wanderlust,” is based around the time of the Great Depression, where a girl yearns for life outside her sleepy hometown, despite the warnings of the dangers.
The promotional material states, “With a chance to find a brighter path…she finds him instead – the origin of a heartbreaking legacy that will stain the city of Cleveland for years to come.”
The “Shadow of the Run” series was conceived in December 2015 by Beth McGee and Adam Kern. In January 2016 the project was awarded a $1,000 grant as an audience favorite from Notre Dame College’s SEAChange Program, prior to appearing in the Cleveland Leadership Center’s Accelerate Competition in February of the same year.
With initial support from Joe and Anthony Russo of Avengers fame, the team continued development to find the right opportunity to bring Immersive to the city of Cleveland. Production designer Ben Needham and escape room architect Christine Wood are also involved in this project.
The show runs this week from July 25-28 and next week on August 1, 3, and 4.
For more information and tickets, click here: shadowoftherun.com
