Then She Fell: Wow! — Page 2

The bruschetta like cracker served with the clear wine was spectacular.

Last night I waited for your comments as there are so few here who have seen this incredible piece and therefore able to write about their experience. I fear that this thread might be doomed to fall away.

I am glad to read that you agree with the company and that the new space has only opened up the performance to new opportunities.

Can someone help me with the location? I am coming in from the suburbs. What is the neighborhood like, and is there a reasonably close subway stop? Any particular safety concerns? I don't know Brooklyn at all.

The neighborhood is the best?

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Perhaps, and I am only guessing, FindingNamo doesn't like superlatives. I really did find the bruschetta tasty.

Williamsburg is mostly safe and there are some wonderful local restaurants.

Nope... a wonderful evening of immersive theater inspired by Alice in Wonderland as set in a mental institution.

I get being enthusiastic, ART, but it was like a small melba toast with a couple of interesting sauces and like a pea or something. Interesting, sure. Related to the show in some unclear way? No doubt. Served during a scene in which it made any kind of sense? Not really. Spectacular? No. But kudos for not calling it "amazing."

As for the neighborhood, Clyde, perhaps you and wonkit have different images that pop into mind when you hear the phrase "the best." Wonkit, it's one of those places that houses communities of color and artsy hipster types. Dollar stores and discount stores and cool restaurants like La Gringa Taqueria. There I saw groups of Latinos and a bunch of death metal kids. "Then She Fell" is a two minute walk down Grand Street (from which you make one left and one right) from the Grand Street stop on the L line. There was a totally mellow vibe in the neighborhood and the Williamsburg Housing Projects are directly across the street from the theater space on Maujer Street. Like I said, the atmosphere seemed mellow, but I'm a dude who never feels uncomfortable walking anywhere. And kudos to you, Clyde, for not adding an animated GIF to your reply.

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Updated On: 7/2/13 at 12:35 AM

I highly recommend this show. Each audience member gets their own "track", so every person has a unique experience.

Don't sit in the same seat you sat in during the "Entrance Lecture". The Nurses take people according to which seats they are sitting in. I did not get to join the Tea Party, but was able to witness Alice pass through the looking glass.

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Sad that there is so little chatter about THEN SHE FELL on BWW. If there had been more, maybe we would have been warned away from wasting 2 hours at THE WORST SHOW WE'VE SEEN IN NY IN A DECADE! (imho) So here's our space to rant, and to try to add counter-ballast to the unanimous raves we've seen elsewhere on this thread.

As huge fans of SLEEP NO MORE (seen twice), we found the asylum setting wholly derivative of the 5th floor at the McKittrick, but done with far less space and far far less wit or artistry. We hated being locked in unimaginative room after room waiting interminable minutes for scenes to commence without any chance to move on when the boredom grew too much to bear. We hated the faux intimacy promised by those vaunted one-on-ones. We hated the drearily repetitive pas-de-deux's between performers (again far less acrobatic, emotionally fraught or inventive than similar scenes at SNM).

Most of all we hated the unfairness of the various spectator tracks: when the 2 of us compared scenes on the walk back to the L-train, we discovered we had each witnessed 5 or 6 sequences not seen by the other. I missed out on painting the roses red, or a chess game with the asylum director. He missed out on the doll closet and hair-brushing bits. Most galling, my partner never saw the Tea Party (the only truly entertaining sequence I enjoyed all night), while I never saw the water-flooded room (the only design space he thought worth seeing).

Unfathomable to us that 2 hours couldn't be structured to allow all 15 spectators to move through all 20 or 25 spaces at least once. Also unfathomable to us is the lack of ANY online criticism of this show (putting aside the critiques of the bruschetta). This wasn't just a weak show for us. This was a disaster beyond all reckoning and we can't understand how no-one else is pointing out that this Emperor is siting in that asylum stark naked.

Updated On: 5/4/14 at 02:42 PM

Yeah, but every post I could find on BWW (even those that are 2 years old) is a rave. Not a single nay vote till ours.

If there had been more, maybe we would have been warned away from wasting 2 hours at THE WORST SHOW WE'VE SEEN IN NY IN A DECADE! (imho)

It is not without its flaws, but far from being the worst show in NYC in over a decade. I can easily quote a hundred shows or more that are more deserving of the title.

You start by saying you are a Sleep No More fan. You obviously had similar expectations and that translated into a disappointing experience.

I found the performance aspect of Then She Fell more satisfying than the Punchdrunk show.

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Updated On: 5/4/14 at 05:05 PM

It's funny, I look back at the posts and see that mine were about ratcheting down the over-enthuasiam just a tad. Spectacular crackers and the best neighborhood and all that.

In my real life I am glad I saw The She Fell, mostly because I thought the Lewis Carroll guy was a total dream. Actually, that's not the only reason. But if anybody asks me if they *need* to see it I tell them the only people who need to see are those who love Alice In Wonderland (I mean, crazy for it) and haven't seen Sleep No More.

I recently brought my niece to Sleep No More. She happens to love Alice in Wonderland and once played the Red Queen, but budget and time constraints meant we had to pick one. SNM was the no-brainer, more bang for the buck.

But I think of Then She Fell as a different kind of achievement. I hadn't really thought about how my mind wandered during the times when I was left alone waiting for a character to come in. You're right that it could be more streamlined. But believe me, if you didn't like hanging out and waiting for something to happen, there really is nothing special about painting the rose. I liked the way it came together. I liked the reveals toward the end.

I too would have hated it if I didn't get the tea party scene.

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