REVIEW: “TALES FROM THE WANDERING WYVERN INN” EXTENDED UNTIL FEBRUARY 19th, 2023

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Otherworld Theatre Company's

The Wandering Wyvern Inn Now Extended Due To Popular Demand

Guest Review 

by Dugan Kenaz-Mara

When traveling through the realm of Amelor, my party of five adventurers came across a cozy inn. Some invited there by old friends, some seeking answers, and others just looking to have a good time. Little did we know that in the span of 90 minutes, we would make decisions that could change the fate of the world…

Tales From The Wandering Wyvern Inn is a fun, immersive experience where you and your party get to gather information from the characters, find clues, solve puzzles, and decide on a path to follow to solve a mystery about a fantasy world. 

The show is a fun activity for everyone regardless of previous LARP (live action role play) experience. My party consisted of a good mix of people with a wide variety of experiences. A few of us have worked at Bristol Renaissance faire and had plenty of background in immersive theatre. Others are experts at TTRPGS but had never experienced them in person, and others still are not involved in theatre whatsoever. All of us had a fantastic time. 

The adventure starts with a quest board, listing the names of the NPCs you will encounter once the experience starts. The participants are given a brief insight into who the characters are and what they are like before choosing one of the quests to follow. This gives the participants an easy entrance into the world of the show and gives each one a sort of NPC companion to start off the show with. Nobody feels left out, and because everyone chooses which questline to follow, they often end up with an NPC who they feel like they can trust and identify with. One friend who was new to immersive experiences ended up getting to just hang out with one NPC who was just in the story to have fun and didn’t have to get wrapped up too tightly in the lore of the world. 

Anyone looking for a well-constructed world can find that here too. The Wandering Wyvern Inn’s characters have secrets, conflicting motivations, and lore about themselves and the world that the players get to discover through conversation. They also bring some of that character lore to the whole group after it’s revealed, heightening the tensions and helping nudge the story along naturally. With 5 players maximum and 5-6 NPCs, the world feels full without being too chaotic, and intimate without being overbearing. 

The set is very fun and quite immersive, including a bar where you can exchange fantasy coins for real drinks, shelves of magical trinkets, and additional spaces that get revealed as the story progresses. Some characters even grow and change as you progress their individual questlines! While it’s marketed as a hybrid LARP/escape room/immersive theatre experience, I would say that it skews more heavily into LARP than the other two. While there are still puzzles to solve it’s much more story driven than an escape room, and while it is completely immersive, the main focus is building relationships and interacting with characters rather than following a plot. 

On top of all of that, there are multiple storylines (some apparently covering more intense material than others), so players who enjoyed the experience can return to the world to solve new puzzles and interact with new characters, making each adventure unique. I would highly recommend this show to anyone who enjoys role-playing or audience-centered experiences. ★★★★ Four out of four stars. 

Dugan is an actor, designer, and photographer studying theatre and psychology at Northwestern University. Contrary to popular belief, he is not a time traveler.

Audiences Embark on Ever-Changing Quests, 

Ensuring No Two Shows are the Same

Don't miss this! Shows are selling out fast. Get your tickets today. 

Otherworld Theatre Company has announced the extension of TALES OF THE WANDERING WYVERN INN: A One-Shot Immersive LARP, a hybrid Live Action Role Play (LARP), escape room, and immersive theatre that has enjoyed a sold-out run since opening December 9. The show, originally slated to close January 29, will now run through February 19, 2023 at their storefront at 3914 N. Clark St. 

TALES FROM THE WANDERING WYVERN INN: A One-Shot Immersive LARP is a 90-minute adventure set in the world of the popular multi-day CHRONICLES OF THE REALM LARP series. Rumors abound about the quaint Wyvern Inn, nestled quietly at the foothills of the Alden's Gate Mountains in Amelor. It is the first stop for many who make the pilgrimage up to Heightswatch. The tavern itself seems unassuming - without the smoke stack you might even miss the structure. However, at night, there is no mistaking the glow from a single orb that beckons travelers to its doors. As you approach, you see the famed Wyvern himself to greet you, holding his magical sphere and whispering through the winter wind that you should come inside for at least the night. 

Grab a quest off the wall, an adventure awaits! Be a mage outlaw, a Strykarrian assassin on the job, a Druid on a journey to find the life-saving antidote for your feverish friend, and more - the Quest Board changes daily so no two experiences are ever the same. Limited to five players, this intimate experience is a hybrid between LARP, escape room, and immersive theatre. Shows run Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 5:30 and 8 p.m., and Sundays at 2 p.m.; tickets are $65 and include a beverage (alcoholic and non-alcoholic options available). The next installment in the LARP series, CHRONICLES OF THE REALM: LEGIONS & LIAISONS, is a weekend-long event July 21 - 23, 2023, held in Monticello, Illinois.

TALES FROM THE WANDERING WYVERN INN features a cast of Non-Player Characters (NPCs), whose roles change show by show depending on that evening’s Quests. The cast includes Blake Hood, Ross Myers, Lilly Bolduc, Shaun Hayden, Sean Buckley, Kyra Young, Vhenan Strange, Ginny Weant, Jono Mammel, Jenna Kappers, Abbey Schnell, Alex Campbell, Chelsea Cox, and Sam Santos. Players are guided on their quests by these NPCs, with new storylines unfolding based on the players’ choices.

Tickets for TALES OF THE WANDERING WYVERN INN and CHRONICLES OF THE REALM: LEGIONS AND LIAISONS are available at www.otherworldtheatre.org. 

ABOUT OTHERWORLD THEATRE COMPANY

Otherworld Theatre Company (3914 N Clark St.) was founded in 2012 to bring a theatrical experience to the science fiction and fantasy genre. The Company’s work celebrates the depth of human imagination by engaging spectators in high quality storytelling. Otherworld Theatre Company stages original works in its pay-what-you-can Chicago, Illinois venue, presents virtual programming online, and produces immersive Live-Action Role Playing events through its partner company, Moonrise Games. For more information: www.otherworldtheatre.org

REVIEW: WORLD PREMIERE of Bloody Bathory Via Barrens Theatre Co Now Playing Through through November 16, 2019

ChiIL Live Shows on our radar

Bloody Bathory

By Millie Rose

WORLD PREMIERE

Directed by Molly H. Donahue

An immersive and interactive thriller putting you on the jury judging history's famous female vampire

All Production Photos by Les Rorick

REVIEW:
by bonnie kenaz-mara

* I'm keeping this review as spoiler free as possible, because Bloody Bathory is best experienced with few preconceived notions.

Barrens Theatre Company's Bloody Bathory is a preternatural romp through a crumbling, castle-like setting, where guests have the option to follow any or many of 17 characters. My 16 year old daughter and I chose to split up, so we'd see different story lines, and we both had a blast. We also had quite different experiences and were privy to unique secrets and storylines, even to the point of voting opposite each other as jury members. It was fun to compare notes after the show. 

My daughter, Sage, tailed one of the women in white with black corsets, who have the most energetic track with lots of running, pranking and haunting. Are they demonic fairy folk, ghosts of slaughtered teen girls who have gone missing in the castle, or something else entirely? Some characters can see them, they can certainly be heard and felt in the physical world, and their storyline travels forward and backwards in time. Are these recollections real or faulty fictions?

Sage got to do a lot of hands on participation and mess with other characters and audience alike, while running from room to room, and even outdoors. She initially wasn't sure if she wanted to catch the show with me, but was a total convert after, raving about how much fun it was and taking a handful of flyers for her theatre teachers and friends.

I started out following a poor, young girl, sent to the castle as a servant and never seen again. As paths crossed, I switched to following numerous different characters including Countess Bathory herself, the Cardinal, and others. Mine was a less physical track, sans running, but full of mental gymnastics. In the process I heard about love triangles, sadistic discipline, midwifery and healing practices, gender based power struggles, superstition and rumor, religious and royal power grabs, romantic tiffs, hexes, herbs, and hauntings. Between the proliferation of Dracula tales and this new-to-me story of Countess Bathory, I was left wondering WTF is wrong with the literally bloodthirsty, Transylvanian gentry of old?! Bloody Bathory is an amazing night of clever clue hunting and fabulously fun theatre, full of passionate characters, plot twists galore, intriguing locals, and sketchy shenanigans.

I'm sure the experience is different every night, and for each participant, even on the same evening. That said, here's a few helpful tips.

Know Before You Go:

1. Wear comfortable shoes and something warm. There's a wide range of options for audience participation from sedentary to downright athletic, but there are stairs to interesting locals and short exterior scenes available to explore. There are umbrellas and blankets if you're in need, but DIY is a good bet.

2. Enter through the front doors to the sanctuary. We easily found free street parking and located Epworth United Methodist Church, but wandered around with a group of equally lost souls, trying locked door after door. There wasn't signage or anything about where to enter in the advance materials. Turned out we were just a bit early! 

3.  Talk less, learn more. This is a show best enjoyed in silence. There's an eery soundtrack, a zillion clues, and characters who contradict others. No-one will jump out and scare you, touch you, or make you do anything against your will. Characters may enlist your help to do small tasks, if you're down for it. I mostly lurked and listened, fly on wall style, while my daughter ended up assisting her character with lots of pranking. 

4. Make a point to get to the cellar and through the hanging sheets at least once. There are fascinating environs all over, so explore the hidden nooks, in addition to the larger rooms where most of the action occurs. 

I've seen plenty of interactive theatre over the years and this is one of my favorites. BLOODY BATHORY is a show you could return to multiple times and catch new storylines with each visit. There was plenty of action, history, and mystery, and yet we were left wanting more. BLOODY BATHORY is a thoroughly enjoyable evening of macabre mayhem and magic, and a fall must see. Highly recommended. 

Bonnie Kenaz-Mara is a Chicago based writer-theater critic-photographer-videographer-actress-artist-general creatrix and Mama to two terrific teens. She owns two websites where she has published frequently since 2008: ChiILLiveShows.com (adult) & ChiILMama.com (family friendly).

The 16th Century Countess Elizabeth Bathory has been described as “the most vicious female serial killer in all recorded history,” and with her penchant for drinking the blood of virgins – a “beverage” she thought would keep her young – she is outrivaled only by Dracula in her fame as a vampire. Like Dracula, Bathory was born in Transylvania and it’s been said she enjoyed torturing and killing young girls before drinking and even bathing in their blood. No one knows what’s fact and what’s fiction in the legend of this bloody countess, but it’s all horrifying and is certain to scare the wits out of the audiences of BLOODY BATHORY, to be staged by Chicago’s Barrens Theatre Co. from October 1 through November 16. Epworth United Methodist Church, 5253 N. Kenmore Ave., Chicago. Tickets on sale now. Click HERE.

In this world premiere drama by Chicago-based playwright Millie Rose, audience members can choose to follow any of seventeen characters and can move from space to space and jump freely from track to track over the course of the night.  Some of the characters will talk to the audience members or even ask them for help. Audience members will act as jury members ruling over the trial of Elizabeth Bathory and at the end of the show, decide if Elizabeth Bathory is innocent, or guilty. 

Rose’s script, which has been in development the past four years through workshops and readings, will be realized in an immersive staging by director Molly H. Donahue, who has worked with (re)discover theatre as the director of 50 SHADES OF SHAKESPEARE, as a creator and director of “The Guest” in FOR ONE, and as the dramaturg and developer on THE INNOCENTS.





Playwright Millie Rose herself will take the role of Elizabeth Bathory. The cast will also include Amy Carpenter (Zsofia, U/S Zita), August Stamper (Hanna), Cory David Williamson, (Janos Ficzko), Danny Turek (Cardinal Melchior Klesl, U/S Matthias), David Quiñones (Count George Thurzko), Ebony Chuukwu (Zita, U/S Bathory), Erich Peltz (Deseo the Castellan), Kayla Cole (Mira, U/S Katalin), Kelly Schmidt (Anna Darvolya), Kristen Alesia (Hedi, U/S Anna), Levi Schrader (Reverend Ponikenusz), Lo Miles (Katalin Beneczky), Maggie Miller (Kovac/Judge), Stephanie Mattos (Archduke Matthias), Tague Zachary (Benedek Toth), William Delforge (Ferenc Kalmar). Additional understudies will include Hannah Ewing (U/S Mira, U/S Zsofia), Lauren Walters (U/S Hanna, Hedi), Michel Bigelow (U/S Thurzo), and Richard Eisloeffel (U/S Toth/Kalmar/Ficzko).

L-R: Kristen Alesia,  Amy Carpenter, Kayla Cole, Wiliiam Delforge, Stephanie Mattos.

Middle Row L-R: Lo Miles, Maggie Miller, Erich Peltz, Millie Rose, August Stamper.

Third Row: L-R: Kelly Schmidt, Levi Schrader, Danny Turek, Cory David Williamson, Tague Zachary. Bottom row: Ebony Chuukwu, David Quinones.

The BLOODY BATHORY design and production team includes Amanda Vander Byl (Costume Designer), Owen Nichols (Lighting Designer), Matt Reich (Sound Designer), Nina D’Angier (Production Designer), Fight Choreographer (Molly H. Donahue), Kate Lass (Intimacy Designer), Brent Ervin-Eickhoff (Script Captain), Emilie Modaff (Music Director), Kristina McCloskey (Associate Director), Hannah Beehler (Production Stage Manager), Jamie Lyn Woods, Christian Tabotabo (Assistant Stage Managers), Emily "Red" Melgard (Crew Swing), and Les Rorick, Cory David Williamson and Millie Rose (Producers).





BLOODY BATHORY will be both immersive and interactive. The audience will have direct experience with the story and its characters, giving them the power to decide Bathory’s fate. Rose says, “Immersive theatre gives the audience purpose and investment in the story in a way that regular seated theatre cannot.  There is an exclusivity about it, a gathering, a camaraderie created.  The audience is not just watching the story but now they are a part of it. I believe we attend the theatre because we want to experience something outside of ourselves and our own lives.”

ABOUT THE BARRENS THEATRE 
Inspired by Stephen King's epic novel, IT, the barrens were a place where nightmares truly existed.  Nightmares reveal the existence of our deepest fears as well as our greatest desires.  

We, at The Barrens Theatre, want to examine the intricacies of human behavior, how we cope with fear and hope and desire in scary places.





BIOS
Millie Rose (Playwright) is an actor and playwright. She also creates her own murder mystery parties. Millie has worked in Chicago over the past four years with a number of different theatre companies including Filament Theatre, Arc Theatre, New Colony, Bluebird Arts, Pride Films & Plays and About Face Theatre.  She participated in the New Colony's Writer's Room 2.0. She is a neighbor with The Neighborhood Theatre. She received her BFA in Theatre Performance from the University of Idaho.  

Molly H. Donahue (Director) is a Chicago based director and new works developer. She has worked with (re)discover theatre as the director of 50 SHADES OF SHAKESPEARE, a creator and director of “The Guest” in FOR ONE, and as the dramaturg and developer on THE INNOCENTS. She is proud to be a founding member of The Barrens Theatre Co. Recently she has directed the Out of Time 24 Hour Play festival as we well as The Bloody Bathory Project in 2018. She is passionate about immersive artforms and challenging artists and audiences alike to see each other in a new light. She is so excited to be directing Bloody Bathory 2019!  

Kristina McCloskey (Associate Director) is a freelance director and producer from Virginia, based in Chicago. Recent directing credits include THE LITTLE FOXES at Citadel Theater, EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN with Dandelion Theatre, and an immersive staged reading of RICHARD III with Midsommer Flight/Unbound Theatre Co. She was Executive Producer of BLOODY BATHORY with Barrens in 2017. Kristina is also an Associate Artist with Dandelion Theatre Company and has had the good fortune to work with 16th Street Theatre, Midsommer Flight, Tarleton/Dawn Productions, and Griffin Theatre. Kristina is passionate about development opportunities for artists in Chicago, including devising and developing new work as well as adapting classic texts. She is equally obsessed with homesteading and every dog she meets (especially corgis). kristinamccloskey.com

Production Details:
Thursdays through Saturdays at 8:00 pm (Tuesday, October 1 at 8 pm)
Epworth United Methodist Church, 5253 N. Kenmore Ave., Chicago
Tickets: Previews $17, Regular performances $27. Tickets on sale now. Click HERE. Additional show information at www.thebarrenstheatreco.com