Cottage invites the audience to build the story themselves, and together, through interactive mechanics. As there are no live actors in the piece, the participants’ points of live human connection are each other– and because they are tasked with reconstructing Gem and Edie’s creations and solving their puzzles on their own, without a “voice of the show” to lead them through it, they engage in the story world as themselves rather than as depersonified witnesses. They know they are not left completely alone on this journey, as story information in the form of diary entries is delivered under doors, through curtains, and sometimes via a theatrical hand, but the focus stays on each other as they read these entries aloud to the group. The final moment of the show recognizes each participant by name: every person is given their own box, to arrange how they choose, that contributes to rebuilding Gem and Edie’s city. This moment expands each participant to a member not only of their audience group, but also of every audience group before them, as their personal box joins the city’s collective creation.

My focus was the design, and Sydney’s the writing, though of course there was plenty of cross-collaboration throughout. Starting with a story structure diagram, I mapped each beat to whatever way the audience would encounter it– whether that was through environment, narrative audio, written story, and so on– as well as the overarching system of mechanics that drove the show. From concept to iteration to implementation, I developed the puzzles, audience flow, and space design, including the drafting and technical elements. I directed our build and load-in, during which we made significant changes to the space, and ran both lighting and sound cues throughout the shows.