The Big Pivot: From immersive theater to interactive delivery in the age of Covid-19.

The 20/21 theater season, like almost everything in the past year, has been anything but typical. Across the world the marquees went dark as we were forced to close down live performances for the greater good. But we have seen such a font of creativity and innovation from our always scrappy theater world colleagues, which has been inspiring in a time when there was little to look forward to.

Almost a year later we’ve certainly thrown a lot of spaghetti at the wall. From the launch of our Retro-Dinners this summer, (followed almost immediately by a new spike in Covid cases that caused us to abort that project,) to a wine delivery program, to live, at-home cooking classes this has been a time of reinvention and even play. 

In the spring, after we closed The Angel in the House, in the midst of climbing infection rates in King County, the safety of Nordo’s staff and patrons became a serious concern and the question was raised: How do we bring Nordo into our audiences’ homes in a safe, contact free way?

And how do we stay true to our core values: creating exciting art that celebrates food, drink and storytelling?

Instead of pivoting outside the box, Nordo literally turned into it, and Nordo’s Room Service was born.  

We’ve always been multi-sensory. That’s what makes this theater company different. We could not imagine an exclusively digital offering. If Nordo is coming to your home, we are coming with the tactile, the aromatic, the delicious. That means physical ephemera and delicious treats to couple with our digital media.

Nordo paired with game designer and film maker Daryle Conners in the summer of 2020 to tease out our trademark immersive storytelling and expand upon a ghost story we created in the fall of 2016. It felt perfect for the upcoming “cancelled” Halloween party season.

And so a new story was born on the back of the old, a story told through typewritten letters and gilded invitations, through poems as riddles, radio interviews, and original music.

We invited our audience to check in to the luxurious Hotel Nordo, built in the year 1927, and explore its haunted history in a multi-media, multi-sensory manner. In their homes. With craft cocktails and delectable desserts as accompaniment.

Nordo is defined by original storytelling, original music, food, and drink. The creativity of our storytelling and music has created a string of audience hits over the years. And our menus won our co-artistic director, Erin Brindley, a Seattle Weekly’s Best Chef award. And through the new Room Service program those stories and full dinner menus are now available to be consumed in your home. 

With sell out orders for Do Not Disturb, and increasing media attention for the following Holiday story box “Christmas of the Corn”, it became clear to us that there was untapped potential to expand the accessibility on a national scale. Nordo’s brand of storytelling can grow beyond Seattle, and make the future live performances in the Culinarium destination events like Meow Wolf or Sleep No More.

We know our audiences are longing to come home. We are all craving for the experiences we miss so much.  

However, our imaginations have not suffered the sting of Covid-19. We ae rising to the challenge, and believe that our new interactive and delivered storytelling can be just as inspiring and delicious as coming to table with strangers to live and breath the same story.