Picture this: you walk into the Shiner Theatre at the Sheen Center for Thought & Culture at 18 Bleecker Street near Elizabeth Street and it’s completely dark. Someone escorts you to an “airport,” through a lounge, to a boarding gate and on an airplane seat on a flight from New York to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Yes, that’s all still happening in total darkness.
As you’re sitting there, you’ll start learning all about Alberto, a fellow passenger that happens to be a blind musician flying home to Argentina. Alberto stars revealing his life story, taking you straight to the heart of Odd Man Out, the immersive Off-Broadway theater production that just extended its run through August 11.
Written by Martin Bondone, Odd Man Out first premiered back in 2019 in Argentina at the Teatro Ciego, a venue with a 15-year history of setting up live experiences in complete darkness.
The production made its move to New York to the delight of attendees earlier this summer, but not everyone seems to be able to withstand the intensity of a two-hour show carried out in the dark.
As reported by NBC New York, audience members who feel overwhelmed are encouraged to step into the “lobby, where they can still experience the show through a headset and blindfold.”
Although virtually “taking away” one of their five senses, the show banks on spectators’ reliance on their four other forms of perception: the venue features a 3D -surround sound experience, a chemical company was tapped to create some of the scents used during the show and, once the fictional plane “lands” in Buenos Aires, passengers will be offered food and wine from the country.
Clearly taking the concept of immersive experiences to its most literal limit, Odd Man Out is a very different kind of theater production—clearly unlike the traditional Broadway shows that constantly attract tourists to this great town of ours. Perhaps, the production’s departure from the norm is more than enough of a reason to snag tickets for it.
