Olivia KielyIf you’re enjoying our content, then please consider becoming a member, with every penny going towards keeping AYT going and paying our very talented team of young creatives. For more information, visit: https://www.patreon.com/ayoungertheatre
I’ve always fancied myself a pretty good detective. I’ve guessed the murderer in a TV series once or twice and managed to deduce what my mum is getting me for Christmas several times (although the latter is probably caused by my mum’s inability to keep a secret). Tonight, my detective skills are put to the test in Eggstraction, an immersive online show.
Eggstraction requires you and a small team to collectively use your supersleuth skills to test the security of a museum, currently housing a one-of-a-kind Faberge egg. And did I mention, you’re blindfolded throughout. Partnered with a group of strangers, the blindfold is a perfect way to cut through any awkward unfamiliarity and effectively stimulates the imagination. Without it, any believability in the storyline would be unachievable, yet once your sight is gone, the narration is able to transport you into the world of the show.
Together with my team, I am asked to explore my surroundings and find solutions to any and all obstacles. It’s an entertaining set-up, but as it relies on immersion in the story for complete effectiveness, some hiccups in the format restrict my engagement. Dominic McChesney is a witty and comical narrator, but the unique journey of each performance results in a few interludes in which McChesney is fumbling to improvise a script. I appreciate the scale of the job; the flexibility required to deal with any unplanned detours is difficult to achieve seamlessly. Unfortunately, it only takes a moment of the narrator being caught off guard for me to lose belief in the world we’ve created, with many of the off-the-cuff solutions seeming a little too convenient.
For a show which promises all the drama and danger of a heist, I am disappointed that the tension level doesn’t vary at all. At the beginning of the performance, we are warned that some of us may die during our mission, setting up an interesting undercurrent of danger. And yet, at the end of the two hours, none of us have so much as a grazed knee. In order to create an atmosphere reflective of the storyline, the risk levels need to be heightened.
When booking this show, you have the option of doing a group booking. Aimed at family, friends and colleagues I think this is the best way to experience this show. Although being grouped with strangers doesn’t ruin my experience, I imagine it would be easier to do this with people you know. I believe this would eliminate the polite tentativeness of contributing to a group conversation when the other members are entirely unknown to you.
Due to the uniqueness of each show, I’m certain people’s experiences will vary slightly. Tonight, although I appreciate and enjoy parts of this experience, it’s not quite the high-stake heist I’d hoped for.
Eggstraction is playing online until 25 April 2021. For more information and tickets, see Morpheus online.