'Life and Trust' review — New York's newest sweeping immersive spectacle
Read our review of Life and Trust off Broadway, a new immersive show at the Conwell Tower, presented by the producers of the immersive hit Sleep No More.
On August 5, 2024, just a couple days prior to this writing, the stock market dipped. The S&P 500, which tracks 500 of the largest and most powerful companies in the United States, fell 3%, its largest decline since September 2022, according to The New York Times. Job market growth has slowed, everything feels more expensive, and the current election season continues to be a roller coaster. But you, too, can head down to Wall Street to escape briefly to October 23, 1929, when an empire could glisten at its peak for just another moment.
The immersive Life and Trust’s take on the classical legend of Faust roots it in a similar moment to our own, filled with decadence, transgression, and social and political turbulence. Scattered through the seemingly infinite number of rooms are tiny details from the bygone world the audience inhabits. In this dance theatre spectacle, choreography is ferocious and acrobatic, often conveying a feverish and unattainable want.
That not-quite-satisfaction might not intentionally be part of the experience. The creative team deserves a lot of praise, but there’s the nagging feeling that, even if you see the show more than once, you'll still find its little substance behind the many theatrics. The scale is huge, maybe too big to offer a truly satisfying time beyond the amazement of the Herculean endeavor.
To Life and Trust's credit, you can have surprising moments of intimacy with certain cast members. These bring a poetic and elegant perspective to the everyday movements the characters make, whether it’s taking off their shoes or signing a contract with blood.
Life and Trust summary
Life and Trust is a spin on the Faust story by Emursive, the immersive production company that reworked Macbeth in the style of Hitchcock and Kubrick in the long-running hit Sleep No More. The German legend of Faust tells to the tale of a dissatisfied alchemist who makes a pact with the devil for success, riches, and love. But when your soul is for the taking, the deal is bound to go sour.
In Life and Trust, Faust is Mr. Conwell, a banking magnate. On the evening of a big celebration at Conwell Tower, a bank built upon the fortunes of a magic syrup that cured his ailing sister, the wearied executive learns the stock market has plummeted. His entire fortune disappears in a blink, delivered to the audience members in his office with a mix of casualness and venomous disdain.
Before he tries to take his own life, one of Satan’s minions offers him the chance to return to his original sin. From there, audience members follow various characters in their pursuit of pleasure, power, and legacy.
What to expect at Life and Trust
Sleep No More’s choose-your-own-adventure-style space in Chelsea is overwhelming, with five floors and dozens of hallways and rooms where different scenes unfold. Life and Trust feels two or three times that size.
You descend deep into the annals of a Wall Street bank that’s been transformed into a dozen universes many times over. It’s all marble and mirrors, barely lit rooms, and green orbs catching the fog. It’s six floors and 100,000 square feet.
Join a young Mr. Conwell in a scene in a living room, and then follow him down a dimly lit corridor — only be captivated by any of the other 40 members of the cast, Watch Mr. and Mrs. Vaudeville perform classic acts in an 80-seat theatre. Or stay a moment with a fortune teller, catch a boxing match, see a Satanic ritual, observe someone print counterfeit money. Plus, look for Easter eggs that point to various Faust tales, like The Red Shoes and The Portrait of Dorian Gray, scattered throughout. the options along Life and Trust’s journey are, for better and worse, endless.
What audiences are saying about Life and Trust
Audiences have taken to social media to share their thoughts on Life and Trust, which began performances in June.
- X user @tourastral wrote, “just saw the new immersive theater piece "Life and Trust" and loved it. it's a sadomasochistic faustian BL about the fall of the stock market lmao GO EXPERIENCE IT”
- X user @EliseAvant_NYC wrote, “A beautiful and brutal display of money, sex & power. Highly recommend!”
- X user @abigailcarlson_ wrote, “Psa if you’re in NY and are into immersive shows, go see Life and Trust. It’s a new show from the creators of Sleep No More loosely based off the story of Faust, and was just incredibly well done end to end.”
Who should see Life and Trust
- Fans of Sleep No More will enjoy its twist on Faust and how it borrows similar theatrical techniques with lighting and music.
- Lovers of the centuries-old Faust tale will be intrigued by how it gets recontextualized in the era of the Great Crash.
- Fans of immersive theatre will have no shortage of options and opportunities to make a memorable evening.
Learn more about Life and Trust
There’s always something happening in Life and Trust, which keeps the show at a brisk pace. But the sheer size of the space and the numerous character threads can be exhausting, especially when the show’s meditations on the things people do for power start to feel redundant. Yet, for such a massive undertaking in the heart of the Financial District, the mood of inevitable ruin exquisitely comes to life. When you walk outside, it’s like nothing has changed.
Photo credit: Life and Trust off Broadway. (Photos by Stephanie Crousillat and Jane Kratochvil)
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