Book it down to ‘The Stacks’ premiere in Moline
The theatrical odds are stacked in favor of a new immersive experience for the Quad Cities.
The unique interactive mystery, “The Stacks,” will hold its world premiere Feb. 22-March 2 at the Sound Conservatory in downtown Moline (504 17th St.). Created by QC actor/director Ben Gougeon and written by Gougeon and Alexander Richardson, with art direction by Dominic Ramirez, the show takes place over three floors of the newly relocated music academy at the former 1903 Carnegie Library, and the audience will move through the space in an attempt to solve the fictional unsolved murder of Sam Hawkins.
“The Stacks” invites audiences to the night of Sept. 25, 1957, when the body of Sam Hawkins is found in a small Catholic college library. The play takes place simultaneously on multiple floors and in multiple rooms, and as the story unfurls, audience members can decide where to go and what to see, look for details embedded with the set and props, and “choose their own adventure,” ensuring that everyone’s journey is unique, and each visit is different, according to a show release.
Each character has a specific track and tells a different perspective of the story. Guests can choose to follow one actor or move around to different scenes in an attempt to discover what really happened to Hawkins.
The story of “The Stacks” is seen through the eyes of a present-day investigator, who has come to the old library to try to solve the 67-year-old cold case. As they explore the library stacks, the ghosts and events of the fateful evening come to life around them and stories of students pushing against the status quo, forbidden love, jealousy and zealotry swirl into a frenzy that results in Hawkins’ demise, the release says.
Immersive theater differentiates itself from traditional theater by removing the stage and “immersing” audiences within the performance itself, Gougeon said. This can be accomplished by using a site-specific location, allowing audiences (who will not be seated but can move freely) to interact with their surroundings, and giving the audience agency in how they choose to follow the show, transforming them into active observers.
In addition to the events that play out, the show’s art director, Dominic Ramirez, and his team have transformed the rooms and stacks of the library into an explorable art installation in and of itself, with nine different spaces within the library that contain clues and references that add to the depth of the characters and the audience’s experience.
The cast and creative team of “The Stacks” includes many QC theater mainstays. The cast includes Kira Rangel, Bradley Robert Jensen, Eric Teeter, Anya Giordano, Jean Tegtmeyer, Alice Sylvie, Titus Jilderda, and Jeremy Mahr.
The creative team is made up of Ben Gougeon (creator/writer/director), Alexander Richardson (writer), Dominic Ramirez (art director), Bradley Robert Jensen (costume design), Roger Pavey Jr. (assistant director/stage manager), Jacqueline Isaacson (intimacy coordinator), and Ron May and Sound Conservatory owner Andrzej Kozlowski (music consultants).
Inspired by long-running NY show
Gougeon said his first experience with immersive theatre was seeing Punchdrunk’s Sleep No More in 2014 at the McKittrick Hotel in New York City. The experience (which opened in 2011 and has run continuously, scheduled to close this March 31) is a retelling of Shakespeare’s Scottish tragedy “…through a darkly cinematic lens. The story unfolds through an awe-inspiring blend of acrobatic choreography, film noir soundtrack, and countless rooms of densely detailed atmosphere,” according to that show synopsis.
“Guests decide where to go and what to see, ensuring that everyone’s journey is unique, and each visit is different.”
“Immediately afterward, when I reunited with the friend I had gone with (we were separated upon our entrance), I said, ‘We need to go back’,” Gougeon said Tuesday by email. “There was so much depth and so much action that we both missed that we both wanted more. Sleep No More gets lots of return visitors, including some ‘superfans’ who’ve attended over 100 times: following different characters, trying to get special ‘one-on-one’ encounters, and trying to discover as much as possible about the world.
“Our art director, Dominic Ramirez, has seen the production over a dozen times, and has flown to London to see Punchdrunk’s other immersive productions,” Gougeon said. “Shortly afterwards, I was cast in an immersive show called ‘The Visitation’ created by Witness Immersive, started by some Sleep No More alums. The show took place within and on the grounds of the historic Wyckoff House, and I fell in love with the form of immersive theatre.”
Since he moved from New York to the QC in 2019, he’s been looking for a space to host something immersive, and immediately fell in love with the old Moline library when Kozlowski had the ribbon cutting at Sound Conservatory this past fall.
“I knew this was the space to create in, but due to Andrzej’s plans to renovate the space, we were on a tight timeline,” Gougeon said. “I wanted to do something that would lend itself to the voyeuristic nature of immersive theatre, I immediately began research ghost stories and murders that took place in libraries, and found some true cases that we borrowed from to create our story.”
“Regarding seeing it more than once, we definitely recommend it, but it’s not necessary,” he added. “Every audience member’s experience will be unique, and those who are more proactive will get to see more of the production.”
They have structured the piece in a way that allows everyone to see about 50-60% of what’s going on, which is enough to get a pretty clear picture of the events of the evening, but the more you see, the more details and backstory you get, Gougeon said.
“There are also audience experiences built into the piece that only 1-2 audience members per night will get to experience, and like with ‘Sleep No More,’ we hope our audiences will try to seek those out,” he added.
The Stacks: An Immersive Mystery will perform at Sound Conservatory (504 17th St., Moline) on Feb. 22, 23, 24, 29 and March 1 & 2, each show begins at 7:30 p.m. Advanced reservations are highly encouraged as capacity is limited, and the subject matter is for mature audiences only.
Tickets are tiered pricing from $10-$75 and can be purchased through Eventbrite. For more information, visit The Stacks: An Immersive Mystery on Facebook and Instagram (@thestacksqc).
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