Secret Agent Fans: An Interview with the Creators of Tradecraft

In late September, 2018, veteran writer and performer Larry Meyers and his theatre company, Ichabod’s Cranium, are teaming up with James Bond screenwriter Bruce Fierstein to create a new twist on the spy thriller.  Using an immersive theatre approach, their production Tradecraft, seeks to put audiences in at the ground floor of a crisis that they can shape and interact with as they see fit.  Haunting had the opportunity to speak to Larry and Bruce about Tradecraft, their process, and the ever-shifting world of immersive theatre.

Could you describe Tradecraft for us?

Tradecraft is a site-specific, immersive, interactive theatrical experience, in which Participants find themselves in a paranoid espionage thriller.   The word “Tradecraft” itself is usually associated with Cold War spies.  That’s all we’d better say.

You both come from a television/cinematic background, but while Larry has experience working in immersive theatre, what inspired Bruce to take the jump to this new medium?

Bruce became intrigued with the immersive theater experience listening to Larry detail his experiences with cults and ghosts and getting phone calls in the middle of the night telling him to go to a dead-drop.  It became clear to Bruce that this form of storytelling was delivering real emotional rewards, and if done properly, could provide unique and meaningful experiences to audiences.  Bruce got his feet wet at Safehouse ’77, loved Larry’s script, and thought they could deliver a realistic and entertaining experience for people.

Photo by Capt. Carrie Kessler/U.S. Air Force

Have there been any other productions, immersive or otherwise, that have influenced your process for Tradecraft?

The wonderful thing about Los Angeles immersive is that it is still in its exploratory phase.  Creators are trying different things.  We’ve picked up tidbits from every show.  What we’ve both learned from all forms of theatre is that we are story junkies.  We love good stories that are well-told, with characters that have original voices.  The big immersive influence, though, is this ongoing theme regarding choices that appears in so many shows.  We think this not only is a core element to immersive entertainment, but a core element of human existence:  why did I make a certain choice, and what might have happened had I made another choice?

The Los Angeles immersive scene doesn’t see too many projects with this kind of subject matter—what is it that speaks to you about the “war room” idea and espionage thrillers in general?

Primarily, it’s a perfect genre for crackerjack storytelling – in which audiences must be alert and present, pay attention to details, and for us, to see if we can keep them guessing and create suspense.  The genre lends itself naturally to suspense, which is foundation of authentic emotional response.  The genre also tends to have conflicted characters, which we love.

More philosophically, we experience so much conflict today compared to 30 years ago, because technology and social media has amplified every tiny thing that happens, and the velocity of news is so rapid.  People don’t stop to think, to consider, or to assess a given event before rendering judgment.   In contrast, intelligence and military activity requires the ability to rapidly assess a situation while contextualizing the event within a larger strategic framework, and only then render a decision.   Perhaps because this genre tends to have very high stakes, we like reminding ourselves and our audiences to take a more “intelligent” approach to unfolding events before making rash decisions — pun intended.

Illustration by Cristiana Couceiro

Will you be incorporating any technology, physically or thematically, that we can look forward to?

That’s classified.

What level of interactivity can we expect in Tradecraft? How do you plan to account for audience agency or lack thereof?

The entire show is interactive.  That is, Participants will be directly engaged with the actors at all times, and are encouraged to keep their wits about them and listen and observe carefully.   Choices matter.  Some appear to be minor and some are very large, but Bruce’s experience in video games allowed us to create a story that where choices made could result in multiple outcomes – both during the show and after.

How do you find your actors and what were you looking for when you cast?

We wanted new faces for this show because it’s more difficult to immerse oneself in our particular story if you recognize an actor from another show.  So we sent out casting notices and held auditions.  In casting, our experience has been that the best actors are the ones who are easy to work with, come in with interesting choices, and take direction well.

8. On that note, how big is your cast vs audience size and what led to that set up?

Well, that depends.  Again, based on certain choices, and how observant Participants are, and how well our team does its job, the 9 Participants per show may encounter anywhere from 4 to [redacted] characters.  If we do our job perfectly, there are moments where you will never even realize you encountered a cast member.

What kind of audience do you think would be ideal for Tradecraft?

People who dig anything having to do with the genre, of course, but also those eager to immerse themselves into a world they probably haven’t experienced before.

Tell us about your space for the performance; how does it inform the piece itself?

Larry is a big fan of the 1970’s paranoid thrillers, especially Alan Pakula’s films: The Parallax View, All The President’s Men, and Klute.  Pakula was big on shot and production design, and finding locations that reflected the comparative insignificance of the character to the space they were in and forces they were up against.  In a paranoid thriller, the protagonist feels overwhelmed by these unseen forces.  The space for our show will hopefully create something similar.  We also think this is something our culture is struggling with now – our seeming insignificance in the face of these massive technology companies following our every move.

What sort of challenges have you faced, if any, when mounting Tradecraft, and how have you overcome them?

It’s a logistical challenge, which will make sense after you experience the show. Fortunately, this is where having TV and film production experience is a big help, not to mention great support staff like our assistant director and creative muse, Stephanie Hyden [The Experiences].

What do you think the immersive theatre community is missing now, and how do you see it evolving in the future? What do you hope your place in that is?

We love the experimentation that creators are employing, finding their voices and what stories to tell.  The medium also lends itself, partially because of its ancestry, to darker themes.  We’d like to see lighter material, more comedies, genres we haven’t experienced yet.  Larry, for one, wants to constantly keep switching genres, keep things fresh and original, but always grounded in core human experience and emotion. 

Every aspect of life involves story.  Consequently, the best chance immersive has to grow is to tell accessible stories.  That’s going to mean different things to different artists, but to capture mainstream audiences who don’t know about immersive, we are going to have to branch out in terms of the stories we tell or how we tell them.

What do you want audiences to take away from their experience?

We would love it if people, first and foremost, were entertained.  If they walk away having authentic emotional responses during the show, that would be terrific.  If they walk away feeling like they’ve been in a world they haven’t been to before, and had some feelings or thoughts challenged about how they see the world, that would be wonderful.

Finally, what’s next for Ichabod’s Cranium?

There are several things in the pipeline.  Stephanie Hyden and I are working on a show for late February, again in a genre we haven’t ever seen in the immersive space, that will also have a few familiar faces as part of the cast.  I can also tell you that our good friend Damien Gerard, from The Tension Experience, The Willows, and [the upcoming] Delusion will be directing that piece.

Tradecraft tickets are available for Friday, September 21st, and Saturday and Sunday 9/22-9/23 and 9/29-9/30. To reserve your spot, click HERE. Also follow Tradecraft on Instagram to start unravelling the mystery.