Manhunt: Mystery In A Box
by Hank Greene & Chad Rabinovitz
Directed by Chad Rabinovitz

In The Box Entertainment
Performed entirely on Zoom
January 12th - January 23rd, 2021
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Puzzle Design: Chad Rabinovitz
Video Design: Brian Nappi
Scenic Design: David Wade
Lighting Design & Production Management: Erika Johnson
Sound Design: Brandon Reed

Cast:
The Detective: Marcus Kearns
C.H.A.R.L.I.E. / Murderer: Marcus Kearns
Newscaster: Rachel Dilliplane
In the fall of 2020 as many theaters are attempting to figure out how to move their seasons online, a collaborator and director I've worked with in the past, reached out to me about a new adventure he was embarking on. Rather than performing the typical play readings on Zoom that most people were doing, he decided to dive headfirst into creating a new form of online performance. Combining Zoom with interactive technology, Chad transformed his home theatre Bloomington Playwrights Project into a multi-media studio by the name of In The Box Entertainment completely decked out with green screens, video cameras, and sound equipment. Anyone who purchased tickets would be mailed a physical box that contained props to allow them to interact with the show as it happened on Zoom. The show would also be sold to other theatre companies to present as part of their season as well. The production would be performed live every night.

Bringing me on as the sound designer, I worked with Chad and the rest of the production team to create this new interactive performance involving a blend of live acting, recorded video, and called cues. Ranging from reinforcement for our sole actor into the Zoom feed, creating soundscapes, underscoring, adding sound to video, and providing mixing and audio restoration for guest performances in between scenes. Playback was vastly different from just the typical QLab setup. It involved a mixture of QLab, Wirecast, blending cues in both programs separately, and sometimes together. This blend into both programs was dependent on the complexity and need to allow the entire production to be run by a single operator and stage manager.

You buy a ticket. You’re delivered a box. Inside the box, you find a variety of objects, along with an invitation… beckoning you to solve a mysterious puzzle. You accept the invitation, and are connected online to a detective who needs the clues in your box to start connecting the pieces… but… the pieces to what? As the plot unfolds into a night of twists and turns – along with virtual live performances that plunge you deeper into a world of noir and intrigue – you realize this is about much more than random items in a box. You begin to wonder: in this virtual game of cat and mouse… who’s chasing who? And why is one of your objects a clock that’s slowly counting down? And… perhaps most importantly of all… what happens when it hits zero?


​Charlie and the Detective

We open the show in darkness as we hear footsteps of the Detective as he walks into the space. He begins to explain to the audience on Zoom how their initiation into the NDI will involve solving complex puzzles and what they need to do so. We also have our introduction to C.H.A.R.L.I.E. a speaking robotic AI that helps the audience solve puzzles throughout the show.

These opening moments are a perfect illustration to the audience how this show blends live performance with interactive video and sound design. All of Charlie's dialogue is recorded voiceover by our actor Marcus that I processed to sound more robotic. I then layered with Brian's video design additional sound design to help the interactive video elements feel more alive and high tech. A faint tone is heard underneath to help enhance the mysterious atmosphere of the piece. We can also hear additional musical layers come in and out as audience members solve their first puzzle after introductions.


​Incoming Transmission

After establishing conventions between the audience and The Detective, we learn the plot of the show and the inciting incident. A wanted criminal has discovered the identity of everyone in the organization and threatens the audience by saying he will reveal their identities. The audience must work together with The Detective to solve the case and discover who this criminal is.

This moment blends live performance, interactive media, and pre-recorded content seamlessly. We come out of a puzzle and into C.H.A.R.L.I.E. warning us of an incoming transmission as we cut to a pre-recorded segment featuring the vocal talents of both Rachel Dilliplane and Marcus Kearns (pitched down to sound like the criminal) layered with sound design I added to Brian's video design. We then dive into the first of many puzzles of the evening.


​Trapped Inside

Later in the show, we have discovered the secret H.Q. of the criminal at large. Together with The Detective, the audience sneaks inside to find him, only to learn that it was a trap all along. The Detective leaves the audience to solve the ticking time bomb as he runs after the criminal.

This moment had so many sequences in succession that would have been difficult to pull off by one operator and our actor that we decided to pre-recorded the entire scene. The scenes were recorded on set in Indiana, sent to me in North Carolina to perform audio restoration and mix, and sent back to them for uploading into Wirecast. The entire thing was mixed down as a single movie file. To help give the illusion of a dark and damp layer, I added water dripping, echoing footsteps, and the criminal's laughter to give off an uneasy vibe. As the audience discovers the ticking bomb and begins to solve the puzzle, percussion come in to help convey a sense of urgency to the audience.


​Escape

As the audience solves the puzzle of the ticking time bomb, they quickly make for an escape from the hidden base as it collapses around them. As they escape they learn that The Detective has gone missing. With the help of C.H.A.R.L.I.E. they must solve another puzzle to learn the true identity of the criminal involving finger prints.

Similar to the previous moment this was also pre-recorded as one single video file. Using Brian's video design as inspiration, I added the sound of a building crumbling layered with someone sprinting as the audience escapes culminating into a big explosion. Afterwards voiceovers layered with the video overlays help guide the audience through the next puzzle. This moment is a result of the combined efforts of myself, Brian, and our actor Marcus working together to make this moment shine and feel thrilling for the audience.