Bonjour~^^
This is Y from UniqueGood Company.
You have finally arrived at the last story of my Paris business trip. Haha
The program I'll introduce this time is a theater-type performance that Realworld is also planning to open this fall!
If you know UniqueGood Company or Realworld well, you should be familiar with immersive theater by now!!!
Yes, there was an immersive theater type program in Paris too, so we went and experienced it.
IMMERSIVE THEATRE
ESCAPE GAME
That's the title of the performance... well... so what is it exactly? That's the feeling, right? ^^
Alright, let me guide you through what kind of performance this is in detail~~
What kind of performance is it exactly?!
Immerse yourself in the world of the Knights of the Round Table~
France's legendary Holy Grail has disappeared.
Only you can solve this crisis.
This is the promotional text introducing the performance highlights, does everyone get the idea?? ^^;;
Here's the theater's story description.
Based on the legendary tale of King Arthur, a table full of knights, and the most holy grail,
a new theatrically structured escape game arrives in Paris.
This interactive experience will pull you behind the scenes as you explore every nook and cranny of Théâtre Lepic in search of the grail.
Along the way, you might even encounter other legendary French figures like Edith Piaf, Coco Chanel, Cocteau, and even Picasso!
Wow~ Do you get the feeling now?
That's right! The legendary Holy Grail has disappeared, and we need to find it inside this theater.
We can even meet legendary figures whose names you'd recognize! Oh oh oh~~~
Wait a moment! You've all heard of Piaf, Chanel, and Picasso.
Cocteau is Jean Cocteau, a French poet/novelist/playwright/film director who was a central figure in French culture.
His brilliant artistic capabilities spanning genres are filled with various attempts and experiments even within a single genre,
and he's known as someone who showed diverse theatrical experiences in the drama genre as well.
Now, shall we follow our experience?
The beginning of a UniqueGood immersive experience story
At the entrance of Théâtre Lepic in the heart of Montmartre, we submit our reservation voucher and receive entrance tickets.
Then when we go back outside the theater, a man wearing a black hat and carrying a bag is waiting.
He hands out mysterious paper fragments and tells us to wait in the square across from the theater. Why?!?! What could this be?!?! So curious
The obedient UniqueGood members go to the square he indicated and wait.
Three people who appear to be French approach us. Oh~ they must be here to play the game too~
One of them suggests putting the paper fragments together. But... well... we can't figure it out.
The man in the black hat appears and asks for all the paper fragments, then says he'll show us magic...
After performing clumsy magic (? Is it really magic? Maybe the clumsiness is part of the act?), he hands a paper from his other hand to one of our UniqueGood members.
Eh~~... we already noticed, kid~~ㅋ
Then he tells us to count to 10, then open it and depart.
After counting to 10, we open it and go to the front of the theater where the man in the black hat is waiting.
We were totally immersed for a moment hahaha
The man in the black hat gives us a notebook.
When he asks who will take it, everyone courteously defers to others, but our member ends up receiving it.
This was the game kit! ^^ (And the other three people were pretending to be players...)
Then the man in the black hat says: No smartphones!
Inside the theater is the 1930s. So from now on, you can't use smartphones!
Good heavens! We haven't even entered the theater yet, but the introduction was long. ;;
However, we later realized that all these devices were meant to enhance our immersion. ^^
Opening the doors of Théâtre Lepic and traveling back in time!
We open the doors of Théâtre Lepic (->theater name) and enter the building.
Going down one floor, two actors greet us. An actress who introduces herself as Cocteau (Jean Cocteau) and a staff member.
Cocteau warmly welcomes us as those who will help find the Holy Grail, checks if we brought the notebook, and tells the staff to give us pencils~
This is how the game begins.
A salon, rehearsal room, and even the stage - all usable spaces!
Here we promise to definitely find the Holy Grail!
But it's challenging from the start....ㄷㄷ
We frantically move around the bar and salon (lounge) space where audiences can enjoy drinks before and after performances in real theaters, as well as rehearsal rooms and dressing rooms, solving quests.
(Actually, rather than solving them, it was a battle with English ㅠㅠ)
Rehearsal room
We had to find answers using the markings on the ceiling lights and the names of figures posted on the rehearsal room walls as clues.
Photos of famous people like Picasso that we mentioned earlier were hanging here.
Dressing room
The man in the black hat, having changed clothes, was waiting for us.
He said he needed to dress as a knight but was missing 3 things and asked us to find them.
Taking a hint from the word accessories, we found him a ring/sword/hat.
He asked if we had anything to take with us,,, well... we only realized later that there was a secret here too~
Bar
Around the salon area, when we meet Cocteau, he tells us to go to the bar, saying Edith Piaf is waiting.
When we go to the bar, the person who initially gave us pencils has transformed into Edith Piaf haha
She says we need to make a cocktail for Cocteau.
The notebook has riddles that make us deduce what ingredients should go into the cocktail,
and we make the cocktail by smelling similar-looking liquids with our eyes. It wasn't easy, but we cleared it thanks to Piaf's hints!
(She also tells us about Cocteau's eccentricity and asks us to put in a good word with Jean Cocteau so she can be cast in a ** role.)
Inside the theater
We move into the theater with the stage and audience seating.
The audience chair seats form a chessboard, and we need to find answers using the notebook content and the chessboard at the back of the audience seating as clues.
However... who are we?! Koreans~ How would we know chess ㅠㅠ
Maybe feeling sorry for us, Cocteau pretends not to see and tolerates us using the power of civilization to search for chess pieces...
We somehow solve it, but... for some reason the answer comes out completely strange. The word doesn't make sense
Eventually even other players (who were actually actors pretending!) come to help solve the quest with Cocteau,
but they don't know the answer either, saying the resulting alphabet is strange~~~ something's very wrong.
From our search, it seems they called the queen a king and the king a queen.. that's where it got tangled. @@
With the phone we pulled out to use a translator even though we shouldn't take photos... occupational hazard ><
Inevitably, (seemingly worried about us being so delayed) Cocteau guides us to another location again. (By this time nearly an hour had passed....)
He leads us to a place with speakers and tells us to listen carefully to that sound.
But we couldn't understand ㅠㅠ Right, there was a secret here too....
It seems we still haven't solved about 1-2 quests, but Cocteau says he needs to have a technical meeting and asks us to come to the salon!
(Anyway, we need to finish this game.. it seems...)
Salon (lounge)
Saying he needs to have a technical meeting, all players gather and sit in the salon,
when the actor from the dressing room (that's right, the man in the black hat haha) comes up from downstairs.
Cocteau informs him that he's casting Piaf as his co-star. When Piaf is called and told this news,
Piaf is happy while the man is perplexed. ㅎㅎㅎ The two leave for the stage...
Now the real technical meeting(?) begins! Cocteau asks if we found hints to locate the Holy Grail.
When we answer the hints we obtained one by one, he sends each person to follow those hints back to various locations.
Finally... we found parts of the Holy Grail!!! Oh yeah~~~ So this is where it was!!!
However, we only have the cup part and the bottom base part, and we still haven't found the remaining piece
Back to the theater
When we all move to the theater, the actor we met in the dressing room (that man in the black hat haha) and Edith Piaf
are performing a play on stage.
Cocteau also takes the stage, and we all sit in the front row of the audience.
Then he calls a UniqueGood member to the stage to find hints, and finally finds the middle handle part of the Holy Grail.
Where it was is a secret! Won't tell you ^^
Oooh!!! We finally found the legendary Holy Grail~
Jean Cocteau is overjoyed.
He says we mustn't tell people about it... it's so precious that we need to hide it somewhere, and asks the audience
what we think would be best.
When our member immediately volunteers to take it to Korea, Cocteau turns pale while Edith Piaf says it's a great idea, adding fuel to the fire,
and the audience actors (pretending to be players) find it amusing. ㅎㅎㅎ
After the performance ends...
This is how the play was able to end safely.
Jean Cocteau repeatedly thanks us for finding the precious Holy Grail.
While doing so, he warns us that once we go outside, we must never! say that we found the Holy Grail.^^
When we go outside, oh my~ the man in the black hat appears!
He asks what we found, so... we play dumb and say nothing ㅋㅋㅋ
But this man... asks for the notebook we used as a kit....
This is mine! Can't give it to you! After some playful banter, we eventually return it. ㅋㅋㅋ
Thinking about it later, ah... since we said we didn't find anything, maybe he takes it back.
The men who were pretending to be players come out with cigarettes in their mouths.
Then one of them tells us to go to the statue in the square where we first started.
What? We went wondering, but not knowing why, we were wandering around when he appears again and tells us to look at our feet
Gasp! There's another memo here~
Oh my~ they're giving us invitation seats to another performance.
But when we say we have to return tomorrow, they're also very disappointed... ^^;;
We had various conversations, and this person is a comedian~ He's a fan of director Bong Joon-ho and praised him highly
Wow~ Proud director Bong! Proud Republic of Korea~
And in that Republic of Korea, there's UniqueGood Company's Realworld!!! ㅎㅎㅎ
We three UniqueGood members from Korea were the first audience of this performance conducted 100% in English!!!
Although we went way over the running time, the actors worked very hard and made great efforts to help us clear it somehow.
Merci beaucoup! 💛💛💛
French-accented English pronunciation, cursive writing, chess
These three things made it difficult for all of us @.@ And my English skills...
However,
just like the introduction said 'Discover yourself immersed in the Knights of the Round Table performance!'
it was a performance that made us completely immersed without realizing it. (Only language hindered the immersion~~ㅠ)
<Performance Reservation Information>
Venue: Théâtre Lepic theater (1 Avenue Junot, 75018 paris)
Show times: 3pm, 5pm (arrive 15 minutes before start)
Running time: 1 hour (no intermission)
Target audience: Recommended for all ages
Language: 100% English (ability to read cursive writing is also important~^^)
Reservations here => https://www.theatreinparis.com/show/immersive-theatre-escape-game
But everyone!
You haven't forgotten already, have you?
Realworld's new theater-type debut this fall!!! ^^
What happens when Realworld meets immersive theater???
Korea's first, a new world of culture and arts created by Realworld
I'm already so excited~~~
You'll look forward to it too, right? ^^
Let's meet in Daehangno this fall~~~