On Oct. 22, All Student Theatre (AST) debuted its original production, “Whispers in the Walls,” an interactive murder mystery. This immersive theatre experience allowed audience members to interact with both the set and characters.

This engaging performance took place in the Village Black Box and engrossed the audience in a story of a family’s involvement in a conspiracy disguised as a 1950s TV Sitcom. Audience members found clues and discovered secrets alongside the characters, giving them agency in the outcome of the plot and engaging them as part of the show.

“You get that opportunity to really chat with the actors and meet with the audience, and every show looks different, which is cool, ” senior and AST President Mia Kouveliotes said. 

This isn’t the first time AST has incorporated audience participation into its shows. “Whispers in the Walls” draws inspiration from the troupe’s hands-on adaptation of “Hamlet” last year. 

“I always kind of wondered if we could take it one step farther,” said junior Andre Leger, director of this year’s production and an actor in last year’s adaptation of “Hamlet.” “We, as an all-student theater, have the resources and opportunity to do whatever we want, and with that opportunity, I thought, ‘let’s make it interactive.’” 

With the unpredictability of the audience’s reactions, actors were often faced with the task of improvising lines. 

“Each run is not the same,” said first-year Micah Rosenthal, who portrayed Anthony, the father. “Each run, I’m asked different questions. I ask the audience different questions. That allows me to bring a whole new light to the show every time new people walk through the door.”

From the actors on stage to the stage crew working hard behind the scenes, this show took both collaboration and considerable effort from all departments of AST.

“Anytime you’re doing an immersive show, the attention to detail has to be absolutely insane because the audience can get right up onto the set, [while] typically, an audience would be 30 to 50 feet back,” senior and Production Manager Charlotte Corcoran said. 

The adaptability of the cast and crew was central to the audience’s experiences. On many occasions, crew members had to take on creative approaches to accommodate the specific technical details of the show. 

“We had to troubleshoot how to make things glow and [think about] how that interacts with the theatrical lighting as well,” Corcoran said. 

The group hoped that audiences left with a renewed impression of the boundaries of theatrical production and in great anticipation of what All Student Theatre will do next.