The No Proscenium Podcast

Sometimes the timeline just makes you break format, which is what we're doing this week as an avalanche of projects have been unleashed. This week's episode sees us covering work in the fields of theatre, VR, escape games, and role playing games. Let's break it down:First up, Jef Aldrich & Jon Taylor, the creators of the Düngeonmeister series of books of unconventional tabletop roleplaying game supplements join me to talk about their latest, The Deck of Many Drinks, and nerd out about some of the truly obscure RPGs they cover in their own podcast Systems Mastery.Then David Spira & Peih-Gee Law of the Reality Escape Podcast join us to talk about the upcoming RECON: Reality Escape Convention - the escape game owner & enthusiast gathering that is coming to LA this August.Body of Mine creator Cameron Kostopoulos joins us to talk about the award winning VR project's leap to the Meta Quest store.And finally theatre makers Keight Leighn & Erik Blair drop by to talk about the upcoming D8 S(t)imul8 in LA.ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTESNoPro’s 10 Most Anticipated New Immersive Works of 2024 (Part II)

This week a double feature double dip with two segments on Neotropolis, the cyberpunk festival in California's Mojave Desert that invites revlers to shed their mundane lives and embrace a neon soaked, cybernetically enhanced alternate reality. We kick things off with a panel featuring NoPro’s own Anthony Robinson, Reality Escape Pod co-host Peih-Gee Law, and Live Action Attraction’s Brett Jackson — who were part of the same camp at Neotropolis and in the case of Peih-Gee and Brett were part of this year’s story team for the event. They give us a player and makers eye view of the festival.Then we dive even deeper with Jared Butler, founder of Wasteland World, and the creator of Neotropolis and Wasteland Weekend who brings us the origin story of these events and lets us in on how it all comes together. SHOW NOTESNeotropolisWasteland WeekendPeople Make Games: We Roleplayed the End of the World with 4000 Other PeopleReality Escape PodRecon: Reality Escape ConventionLive Action AttractionsImagi-Ne'er-Do-Wells

This week: Chip Giller and Amy Seidenwurm of AGOG: The Immersive Media Institute a new organization whose mission is to helping creators and nonprofit leaders harness the power of extended reality (XR) to imagine a better future for all.Then we pivot from XR to IRL as Adipat Virdi, the creator of I AM OTHER — which is headed to the Edinburgh Fringe this August and has a two night stand in Canterbury this month — June 20th & 21st at the Gulbenkian Arts Center — to talk about the piece: An immersive family drama, about an older relative’s act of aggression towards a biracial child, that actively investigates white privilege, judgement, identity and bias.SHOW NOTESAGOG: The Immersive Media InstituteAward Winning ‘Body of Mine’ Drops On Meta VR PlatformsI AM OTHER I AM OTHER CanterburyI AM OTHER Edinburgh

Life & Trust – the upcoming show from Emursive, the NYC presenters of Sleep No More & proprietors of the McKittrick Hotel – is the subject of much rumor & speculation, something our Review Crew is not immune to!Join NoPro's NYC curator Allie Marotta, East Coast Editor at Large Blake Weil, NYC correspondents Nicholas Fortugno and Penelope Ray along with host Noah Nelson as they dig into what's known, what's supposed, and what just might be about the highly anticipated show that opens later this month.Then stick around as Larry Myers joins us to talk about his Hollywood Fringe show Did I Just Join A Cult? about his time with The Tension Experience.SHOW NOTESLife & TrustDid I Just Join A Cult?Hollywood Fringe

A double header!First: What If...? — An Immersive Story Design Director Ian Bowie of ILM Immersive and Director & Executive Producer Dave Bushore of Marvel Studios join us to talk about the new release for the Apple Vision Pro.Then: the first of our Hollywood Fringe 2024 shorts as Jacob Zorehkey & Ashley Busenlener of LAST CALL THEATRE pop in to tell us about Last Call’s upcoming Hollywood Fringe show REFORGED.SHOW NOTESWhat If...? — An Immersive Story ILM ImmersiveMarvel StudiosLast Call Theatre's REFORGEDLast Call TheatreHollywood Fringe

This week we’re joined by Cesar Hawas, producer of Particle Ink: House of Shattered Prisms, the spectacular creation of the Light Poets that has moved into the Luxor Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas and is wowing audiences in this follow up run to Particle Ink’s fabled run in Vegas’ Arts District. SHOW NOTESParticle InkParticle Ink: House of Shattered PrismsThe NoPro Review of the Original RunReview Rundown with the Shattered Prism reviewReality Escape Pod: Noah NelsonRECON '24Immersive Experience Institute Newsletter

This week we are joined by the dynamic Achinta S. McDaniel, Founding Artistic Director of Blue13 Dance Company whose all new work Soliloquy: Immersive Experience comes to LA's Heritage Square Museum May 31 - June 2. This marks Blue13's return to Heritage Square after the triumphant Shaadi in 2021, a highlight of that year.We get into the themes of the new show, how working in immersive & site-specific compares to other mediums for dance, and if her students at the Glorya Kaufman School of Dance at USC see the immersive world as part of their futures.SHOW NOTESSoliloquy: Immersive ExperienceBlue 13 Dance CompanyBroken Bone Bathtub: The Documentary & LA Immersive MeetupNoPro Patreon Backer DiscountThe Next Stage Immersive Summit 2025The Immersive Experience Institute Newsletter

Michael Epstein, founder of Walking Cinema, joins us to talk about The Fillmore Eclipse.While Walking Cinema is well known for their intricate audio based walking history experiences, this is their first fully staged immersive performance based experience… one that like all of their work taps into the local history of the setting.SHOW NOTESThe Fillmore EclipseWalking CinemaLife & TrustHollywood FringeParticle InkBroken Bone Bathtub: The Documentary & LA Immersive MeetupNoPro Patreon Backer Discount

This week on the show Rory Mitchell of The Mercantile is here to talk with us about his new Augmented Reality narrative experience The Tent, which made a splash at SXSW this year and is now on the festival circuit.SHOW NOTESThe TentThe MercantileBroken Bone Bathtub Documentary/LA MeetupBBB Doc NoPro Patreon Backer Discount InfoMeow Wolf supercharged the way we experience art. Is L.A. ready for the wild ride? (LA Times)