David Byrne's Theater of the Mind at the Denver Center
Back in November, on my way out to LDI, I stopped in Denver to check out David Byrne’s Theater of the Mind. I had been hearing about this show for years; my former CityTech colleague Heidi Boisvert is the Technology Director for the show, and I even ran into Mr. Byrne once in the theater at CityTech as they were teching out some ideas. Through Heidi I connected with Alex Billman, the Denver Center’s sound supervisor, who gave me a very nice backstage tour before the show. It’s a very well done installation in all of its aspects; there’s a whole article’s worth of information there to be explored. No photos are allowed inside, but the show takes place in an old warehouse building.
The website describes the show this way:
Peer behind the curtain of the physical realm and marvel at the wonders of your mind. Follow your Guide as they revisit key moments in their life in a surreal, 15,000-square-foot installation with a group of just 16 audience members. Over 75 minutes, you’ll move through a series of rooms where you’ll participate in thought-provoking neuroscience experiments. You’ll learn how easily your own senses can deceive you. If perception and memory are both malleable, then perhaps even your identity is less fixed than you think…
It was sort of a fascinating combination of a walk-through haunted house attraction (like the Gravesend Inn), but instead of the scary aspects, each room features a demonstration/experiment related to perception, tied into David’s story. This version ran only through mid January, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it got another run somewhere (although it’s an expensive install).
They released this video after I saw the show: