Bottom Of The Ocean / BOTO — Attraction in New York

Not to be the usual contrarian, but I beg to differ from the multiple 5-star reviews out there. [SPOILER ALERT]

First, the actors are great. They act, sing and always stay in character even in the weirdest moments. No complaints about that.

However, the whole storytelling is lacking. There is sort of a common motif, which is introspection and redemption. But that is not clear from the beginning. The journey starts with repeated references to the undersea (not to mention the name of the play itself), but the message is quickly lost during the play and completely absent in the end. For example, while we waited for the other participants to go through the journey before us (entrance is staggered and the tickets with the least rooms enter last), the actor asked us to “vibe in synch with the building” using a diapason. Leaving aside the fact that we felt a bit silly doing that (that’s the beauty of immersive theater—I told myself), the vibration theme is nowhere present in the play and nothing to do with the undersea theme. Perhaps come up with a game for those entering last that is more in tune with the undersea motif?

Moreover, the decoration is not that well-crafted and along the journey I kept questioning my life choices (why did I pay $150 to wear a silly cape while wandering in a Brooklyn basement on Saturday night?)

To be clear: I’ve been to Sleep No More (my best so far) and Then She Fell and I greatly appreciate immersive theater.

We got the 2-person tickets without access to the extra rooms, so perhaps that extra room (and a half) is life-changing. I doubt. Seems more like a case of collective drinking the Kool Aid, at least at that price point.

And most of all, a bit disappointed by the NYT running this as the show...

It took me forever to get tickets which really helped build up some hype. Was that hype deserved? Sort of, and I'll explain why.

The mystery is a huge part of enjoying it, so you should avoid spoilers as much as possible. It is worth knowing that it's super immersive and intimate. When i did it, it was just me and my gf. It involves some areas where the actors touch you (you can always say no though). They also have a brief section where you drink something. You also have to wear a poncho type garment. There's also lots of smoke, candles, and sounds.

The actors are great. They not only have to act, they also need to react while in character (each plays a few roles). They also sing really well. I was floored by that aspect. The part that didn't work for me was the details of the sets. They are wonderfully creative and evocative, but the quality is just lacking enough to break immersion. You can tell that this is just a stocking, that's a wine opener from target, etc. So if you're the kind of person that can suspend disbelief you're golden, otherwise you might drop a star like I did.

Despite the wrinkles, I did really enjoy it overall. It's the closest I've come to experiencing a fantasy video game first hand. Some areas are straight out of Bioshock (although not terribly scary) others seem a little more Guillermo del Toro (again not scary). There's some attempt at spiritual reflections where you get to play with your own traumas, hopes, relationships, etc but I'm a little too cynical for that to have impacted me very much, but it's still fun to be interactive.

All said and done I wouldn't do it again, but I'm glad I...

I hope future reviewers know to leave their opinion without any spoilers; BOTO takes you on a metaphorical journey through a series of rooms and asks you to open yourself up and share a sliver of your human experience and emotion through a sensory experiment and at the time of this review was $100 a ticket which I believe is very cheap for this type of intimate, personal performance. Though a tad general at times, BOTO manages to carry away even the most sarcastic participant (me) and charms you into playing along with whatever scenario or ritual you find yourself in. I recommend knowing as little as possible when you go and leaving your doubts at the door, be genuine, honest and just be yourself, leaving the character acting to the talented cast. The only thing I was a bit disappointed with was the general production quality (props, set designs, etc). BOTO feels on occasion like a small town high school haunted house then a truly professional NYC production. Hopefully it will improve...