Inside the Box is an entertaining and unique way to spend an evening at home. The live virtual interactive theatrical experience, written and performed by puzzle master David Kwong, is an intimate gathering of 24 participants per show.
Kwong, a magician and New York Times crossword constructor, provides a downloadable packet of information needed to participate prior to the show.
“When you sit down to solve a crossword puzzle, you’re engaging in an invisible connection with the puzzle-maker. The puzzle-maker’s goal is to challenge your brain, throw in some amusing twists and turns, and maybe even a little misdirection (after all, I am a magician),” said Kwong. “With Inside the Box, I’m excited to bring games, word play and mystery into homes through virtual puzzles. These puzzles will be fun, interactive and not too hard. So put on your thinking caps, bring the whole family and join the puzzle party!”
Inside the Box – Photo courtesy of Geffen PlayhouseThe hour and a half journey includes a history of puzzles that lays the foundation for the night’s activities. During a time of social isolation, it was nice to come together (through Zoom) and share an interactive experience with anagrams, spoonerisms and acrostics with a group of 24 people. Our group included mostly Angelinos with a few New Yorkers who stayed up a little later to participate.
Kwong was patient with dealing with Zoom glitches and non-responsive guests and he provided a much-needed atmosphere of performance and gathering together as an audience.
Geffen’s Stayhouse series of interactive theater at home also includes Citizen Detective where audience members become sleuths in a case that mixes mystery, theater and code-breaking (November 10 – December 20, 2020), The Future a magic show featuring Helder Guimaraes where participants decide which version of events they want to see (December 4, 2020 – January 31, 2021) and Bollywood Kitchen where Sri Rao invites participants to create a homemade Indian meal along with him (January 15 – February 21, 2021.
Inside the Box will run through January 3, 2021. Tickets for all shows can be purchased at https://tickets.geffenplayhouse.org.
