Life and Trust

If you like immersive theater then "Life and Trust" is for you! Set in 69 Bever St. in the financial district, this play has tremendous props, sound and acting!

The stock market is about to crash and a banking executive has a decision to make the night before the crash. What happens next is his journey through life; what he wanted, what he missed out on; and what he created for the masses.

The show runs three hours and comfortable shoes are a must! Throughout the six floors you are invited to be a voyeur in the lives of the people who surround J.G. Conwell. He is a stern man with a hard exterior; knowledgeable about business and the markets, he is seeing the end as it nears. He wonders allowed if it was all worth it. Conwell is forthcoming about the world; he is cold and calculating in how he approaches business and the masses of people as if he is playing a chess match.

The costumes in this show are first rate and capture the period perfectly. The audience must wear a mask at all times which gives off a gothic vibe to the show (we are faceless, much like the way Conwell sees the public). As you walk from room to room the various temperatures, flooring has an individual feel, touch, sound, sight which rushes all your senses. It gives us the many moods to the play.

Where the public sees Wall St. as a white-shoe atmosphere, the playwright brings us to the depths of what Wall St. can be, what it can do to the public and its people. The actors are degraded to a Bohemian lifestyle through dependency on what Conwell has invented for his dying sister. The sudden poverty of man has jilted the world and people need a psychological out.

As people dance to forget, the degradation only gets worse. At times "Life and Trust" reminds me of "Mulholland Drive, the movie... it has many subplots to the show and careful attention must be paid to the actors who never really speak.

An hour or so into the show it can feel repetitive and slow, however, the play pics up at the 1:45 minute mark and the story starts to come together. In immersive theater you run the risk of getting run over by either the actors or the audience. Like Conwell, there are no rules to the immersive.

Resonating most is the grace of the actors, the all dance so well; their "business" throughout lets the audience know where they are without saying a word. The choreography needs to be superb for the show to work and it is! The show is sometimes ballet, sometimes bare knuckle, but always top notch!

If you saw "Sleep No More", you will love "Life and Trust". This theater company has its new digs at 69 Bever St. as the McKittrick Hotel is not letting any more shows be played there. I liked both venues, but I think the new digs are better; big flowing columns, high ceilings and wide spaces make the viewing easier to watch the actors.

From the actors to the support staff the experience was a memorable one! The last scene in this show is one that I will never forget. For me it will go down as one of the greatest theatrical experiences of my life! What the director did in the last 15 minutes or so was deeply creative, so well throughout that I am not sure I have or will see anything like this in theater again!

"Life and Trust", Off Broadway, Immersive, Lion King, Alladin, Broadway Bob, No Bull With Raging Robert, Studio Seven, Show Prep, My Life Publications.