Ghost River Theatre and Beakerhead are guiding you through an immersive theatrical experience, and all you have to do is follow your nose.Scent Bar is the fourth installment in Ghost River Theatre’s Six Sense Series having explored touch last year, and hearing and taste previously. Scent Bar takes place in what was previously the Chicago Chop House downtown, and Ghost River Theatre has reignited the bar by performing in it.
The experience is broken up into 5 options and you can pick 3. They include Bonne Fete, Cocktail Tarot, Recipe to Remember, Wanderlust and Unwined.
As someone who enjoys wine, I had to go with Unwined as my first choice. Led by Louise Casemore, Unwined explored your sense of smell through wine. It’s amazing how you can pick up notes and decipher aromas when you cannot see what you are smelling.
Recipe to Remember led by Bobbi Goddard took you back to recapture someone you lost through scent. For Goddard it was her grandmother, Rose. There is a certain amount of vulnerability that audience members wxpweiwncw when you’re sitting blindfolded smelling things that bring up memories of people from the past.
Wanderlust was my final pick of the night, led by Armin Karame where different scents would take you to different places around the world. Karame took you on a journey to various places and this piece was a bit more dependent on the answers of the audience to make it or break it. Our particular performance wasn’t as strong as the group didn’t connect with the scents as much.
I chatted with other audience members and Devon Dubnyk’s Bonne Fete brought you back to the birthday parties of your childhood.
Ghost River Theatre’s Scent Bar and their Six Sense Series is pushing the boundaries of contemporary theatre. And it couldn’t smell any better.
More information of Ghost River Theatre can be found online.