On October 22nd, 2020 we received an inquiry from Laura, she was in the Netherlands. She was looking for something fun to do virtually with about 45 of her colleagues. Some of these individuals were in Asia, while others were in Europe. she kept asking us what was it really like?

Have you ever been to the theater? “Yes,” she replied. I don’t really know when the next time I’ll be able to go to a theater show will be, “neither do I”. But you have had the experience of watching a performance, correct? “Yes, of course,” she said. Well, imagine that instead of watching a performance you and your colleagues all 45 of them are actually part of the fun team building online experience. We create the story and all of you participate in it, with us. “What do you mean?” What part of this is confusing to you? She replied: “The part where we are actually part of the story.” Understood! Maybe I should back up a little bit and ask you if you have ever been part of an interactive experience, where the actors are actually engaging you in conversation? “No!” she said. Great! So I’ll explain to you exactly how this happens. We’ve created a play that’s roughly about 2 hours long and has a three-act structure. Inside this three-act play, there is a fictionalized murder. One of the main characters is asking the audience… You and 45 of your colleagues to help her figure out exactly what happened. So essentially it’s an online theater performance, where the main difference is that the actors are interacting with you. There is a give and take between the audience/participants and the performers.

Will we be working together? Yes! You will be working in small teams. Along with your teammates, you will gather all the information, interrogate all the suspects, and put together your theory of what happened last Friday night at the famed book club. You will confront the suspects with your theory and hopefully, one of your teams will be able to solve the murder at River Crossing book club.

Laura said is this fun? “Yes! we’ve created a fun team building online experiences” After 11 years and more than 10,000 live performances from LA to Madrid Spain, and before COVID-19 we knew we had to take our online theater performance seriously. We had to compete not only with other companies but a myriad of online options for corporate clients. We are thrilled with what we’ve created. In three short months, we’ve adapted. As theater-makers, we know the theater has survived for 2,500 years, and while we don’t know how long, this pandemic will last. We know how important it is to provide our clients, corporate team-building online scenarios some much-needed escapism.

Then Laura asked the final question – and we were thrilled to get this question because it’s what sets our virtual team building activities apart from anybody else. – She said, “Is it corny?” She chuckled. We said we are so glad you asked that question! We create fun, interactive, performances that happened via Zoom. But because we’re not the only ones doing this kind of work we know that what sets us apart Is our commitment to the authenticity of the work. We are the masters of interactive. Our creative director Carlo D’Amore has created techniques that allow participants to engage in ways that are surprising both to them and to everybody who experiences the shows. A recent corporate client in Raleigh North Carolina said “your experience was phenomenal, it gave us the much-needed breath of fresh air that after 4 days of back-to-back meetings we all longed for! We’re so excited to partner up with you and we want you to be part of our Symposium this January!”

We’re all living through such uncertain times, the one thing that we as a theater company can always provide is entertainment. Virtual team building activities that are not run-of-the-mill. Come experience something truly different with Live in Theater’s online theater performance of Murder at River Crossing Book Club!