{"id":24615,"date":"2020-01-09T08:59:11","date_gmt":"2020-01-09T16:59:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.haunting.net\/?p=24615"},"modified":"2020-01-09T09:06:52","modified_gmt":"2020-01-09T17:06:52","slug":"ode-at-pints-end-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.haunting.net\/ode-at-pints-end-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Ode at Pint’s End – Raising a Glass to Chicago’s Birch House"},"content":{"rendered":"

A young sailor stumbles drunkenly across the pub to welcome me and introduce himself. It has been one year since Eamonn and his friends fought their way back to land after a devastating shipwreck. Now it is time to celebrate. Sailors sing sea shanties, women dance, and beer flows freely. Of course, to truly kick off the anniversary celebration, we have to begin with a true Irish toast. ode at pint’s end<\/span><\/p>\n

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Eamonn stands on a table and raises his glass, \u201cThere are two toasts in every pint: the toast at pint’s pour and the toast at pint’s end. We drink at the pour to the livin\u2019, and we drink at the end to the dead. We dedicate the last of our pint to \u2018em so that they can keep drinkin\u2019 with us.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Created by Lauren Fields and Janie Killips, and the second Birch House<\/a> production of 2019 to grace the city of Chicago (the first being Lonely Hearts<\/em>), The Ode at Pint’s End <\/em>is an original immersive musical that invites guests into a welcoming world of Irish folk tales and songs of the sea. While guests cannot affect the story\u2019s outcome, they do get to interact with the pub\u2019s inhabitants – singing, dancing, and sharing intimate conversations. Over the 90-minute runtime, 32 guests will be taken on a sailor\u2019s odyssey from the comfort of a loving wife\u2019s embrace to the depths of the sea and back.<\/p>\n

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\"Ode<\/p>\n

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The Ode at Pint’s End<\/em> beautifully navigates the thematic waters of love, commitment, and the wisdom required to resist the temptations that would pull us out to sea and away from the things that matter most. Torn between the allure of never-ending adventure and the warm embrace of their wives waiting for them on land, three sailors must make a choice. Pleasure may last for a moment, but our hearts will never truly be content in the long run, apart from the people we love and the place we call home.<\/p>\n

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One of The Ode at Pint’s End’<\/em>s greatest strengths is its setting. A pub is a wonderful setting for an immersive production, giving a great in-show reason for there to be so many people standing around. The other guests weren\u2019t a distraction from the actors, nor did they get in the way of the action. No, here the guests drastically improved the atmosphere, filling the pub with a lively energy. At certain points, guests naturally split into smaller groups, following characters into nearby rooms for more intimate interactions. These weren\u2019t full-fledged separate tracks, but different guests got to experience the same plot points from a different sailor\u2019s perspective.<\/p>\n

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\"Ode<\/p>\n

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Of course, just letting a bunch of guests loose in a pub and serving alcohol doesn\u2019t exactly make for a night of immersive theater. That\u2019s where the phenomenal actors come in. Eddie Lynch as Eamonn was especially impressive, juggling an Irish accent, drunkenness, and unresolved emotional trauma in one captivating performance. Kristen Alesia\u2019s performance as Eamonn\u2019s wife, Roisin, was equally compelling. Her frustration and bitterness toward Eamonn for keeping secrets was believable while never overshadowing the underlying love that made her hardships all the more painful. Within minutes of entering the pub, the actors melted into their roles so naturally that it was easy to let go and immerse myself in their world.<\/p>\n

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Not all of the characters were so relatable – or even human. Haunting the untamed seas are the three Merrows, sirens that lure unsuspecting sailors to the bottom of the ocean. These dangerous women of the sea, played by Christina Renee Jones, Alana Grossman, and Collin Quinn Rice, introduced a fantastical element to the folktale and were always entertaining to watch and play with, even if their introduction didn\u2019t feel as smooth or natural as it could have. They shriek and laugh maniacally as they seductively brush past guests or take them gently by the hand. They send chills down the spine but leave sailors and guests alike wondering if a lifetime with the Merrows on the ocean floor wouldn\u2019t be that<\/em> bad.<\/p>\n

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\"Ode<\/p>\n

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I can\u2019t review a musical without mentioning the music, and, to my delight, the original music by Janie Killips was breathtaking and mixed perfectly with the traditional Irish folk music sung at The Ode and Pint’s End<\/em>\u2019s beginning. Several of the songs moved me to tears, while others had me tapping my foot and singing along in no time. Fortunately, the lyrics are easy to understand and did a solid job at moving the story forward. My only complaint is that I can\u2019t keep listening to the music as I write this review. Seriously, I need the soundtrack yesterday.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

All in all, The Ode at Pint’s End <\/em>was my biggest surprise of the year and a show that I really hope comes back for more people to experience. Birch House\u2019s knack for telling impactful, human stories with nuanced characters shines through here and cements them as a must-see in the growing Chicago immersive scene. By the time the three surviving sailors raised their pints for the second toast – the toast at pint’s end – I realized I wasn\u2019t ready to say goodbye. I wanted to stay and share one more pint with friends and listen to their story again. Alas, all stories must eventually come to an end, existing only as ghosts in our memory. A toast to the dead, then. Drink up!<\/p>\n

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\"Ode<\/p>\n

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The Ode at Pint’s End<\/em> has concluded its run. Keep up with Birch House on their website<\/a>, Instagram<\/a>, and Facebook page<\/a>. Check out our\u00a0Event Guide<\/a> for more immersive events throughout the year.<\/p>\n

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pint’s end pint’s end pint’s end pint’s end<\/span><\/h6>\n<\/section>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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