Long-Running Immersive Play Then She Fell to Close

Third Rail Projects' award-winning Then She Fell, which suspended shows on March 12 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, will permanently close the immersive production after seven and a half years and 4,444 performances.

Written, directed, designed, and choreographed by Zach Morris, Tom Pearson, and Jennine Willett in collaboration with the originating cast, Then She Fell evoked the inner, psychological landscapes of Lewis Carroll, Alice Liddell, and iconic characters from Carroll's texts, including Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Every aspect of each audience member's experience was meticulously designed, from lush environments to the smells, tastes, and objects that they discovered as they explored the space, unravelling a narrative that balanced dream, reality, fact, and fiction.

"Like so many other businesses at this time, we are suffering the results of the pandemic shutdown, and we found ourselves unable to continue to pay the associated costs of holding a show in indefinite limbo without foreseeable income from ticket sales," said Morris, Pearson, and Willett in a joint statement. "Not wishing to compromise the design of the show or risk anyone's health, we have made the difficult decision to end this amazing run at 4,444 performances. We hope someday there will be another way to share Then She Fell again with audiences. We recognize the impact of this decision is great and affects many: the directors, staff, the many performers, designers, vendors, and partners, our audiences, and the culture of immersive theater at large."

The show took place at the Kingsland Ward, with a first run at Arts@Renaissance in the outpatient wing on the campus of the former Greenpoint Hospital, and in several extensions of the show at St. Johns the Evangelical Lutheran Church's former parochial school.