The Mortality Machine

At Sinking Ship Creations' intimate immersive dance-theater experience, set in a Chinatown basement, spectators play the roles of family members investigating the deaths of their loved ones in a shady 2014 medical experiment. Less a theater event per se than an interactive role-playing game crossed with elements of an escape room, the piece is a collaboration between writer Ryan Hart, designer Tommy Honton and choreographer Lara Mancin, and a lot of care has gone into creating it—and into making sure that all of the participants are comfortable with the game at all times. "If you can move your arm, you should be able to fully interact with the dancing," notes the show's online FAQ. "If you have mobility problems with your arms (or don’t have arms), you will still be able to experience most other elements." But while the production doesn't impose on its audience members, it expects an awful lot from them, and therein lie the show's problems. The initial search for clues is confusing, and it's hard for the play's actual actors to shape the discovery process with so many people moving in different directions at once. And since the participants get almost no time to flesh their characters out, the hoped-for emotional payoffs don't arrive: Grief LARP-ing can only go so deep when you don't really know who you are or what you're grieving.