It is the eve of World War II, and we are in Hoboken, New Jersey. Couples are getting frisky on beds. Nervousness pervades the air, as does—more insidiously—racism.
Except we are not in Hoboken but in a space beneath the 14th Street entrance and exit of New York City’s High Line, and this is the immersive theatrical experience of Seeing You.
The audience is ferried through a series of scenes and tableaux, including a blood drive and variety show, and then suddenly into the midst of war and upheaval. It is not as crazy and labyrinthine as its cousin, Sleep No More, but Seeing You still packs a neat interactive punch. It feels part-dream, part-nightmare, and its performers adeptly sweep us along behind them.
The Daily Beast’s Tim Teeman recently caught up with Seeing You’s production and costume designer Desi Santiago to talk about how he conceived the design scenarios for the show, and the challenge and delight of creating interactive theater within a huge black box.
