The Speakeasy

The Speakeasy is an immersive theater experience in San Francisco, CA. It imagines a sprawling prohibition-era speakeasy, with multiple bars, a cabaret presenting live acts, a casino, all fronted by fake street-level businesses concealing entrances. An audience of 250 are mixed in with cast of 50 dispersed through multiple concurrent playing spaces.

Minuscule was tasked with designing lighting consistent with the period, concealed architectural lighting, and architectural/theatrical controls to knit it all together. The project won the Award of Distinction at the 2017 Luxie Awards.

Period Research

The process started with extensive period research. 1920’s era Sears Catalogs available via microfilm were an invaluable resource.

The early 1920’s were an interesting transitional period in design, looking forward into Art Deco and Art Nouveau, but also backward with Arts and Crafts. Many of the commonly available fixtures were Victorian gaslight patterns that were offered with new electric lighting source as an option. In general, it was before any kind of integration into architectural surfaces e.g. downlights– everything is an expressed surface fixture.

Architecture and performance

The project is, at its heart, a theatrical performance. This photo from an early rehearsal shows theatrical accent lighting overlaid on period themed lighting. The theatrical lighting will eventually be concealed behind scrim panels painted to match the pressed tin tile ceiling.

The Cabaret

Left, birds-eye view of the cabaret. Each of the table lights is an individually controllable color-changing LED module, allowing for warm tone or color shifts and movement during more theatrical moments.

Easter Eggs

Guests can explore the space in an open-ended fashion and discover dozens of hidden easter eggs. This dressing room mirror is actually one-way glass, allowing guests to follow the cabaret dancers story arc ‘offstage’. We had to manage the luminances carefully to maintain the illusion.

Custom Controls Design

By design, guests can follow any actor from space to space and explore dozens of hidden easter eggs. This presented a unique challenge for lighting controls: multiple timelines must run concurrently and asynchronously, in concert with pre-recorded sound and live bands, but be centrally cued by a stage management team via closed-circuit video. Additionally, we wanted to use period-appropriate push-button style light switches, but be able to selectively lock them out during shows. The controls system integrates both theatrical and architectural systems for unified, flexible command.

Immersive Theater

All the work and endless detailing serve one purpose: at its best moments, it is possible to forget that you are watching a scripted show and just live in the period.