It’s the 100th Annual Harvest Festival at Windsor Grove, and we were invited to attend the celebration after 100 years of the town’s isolation. What was supposed to be a day of fun, music and dancing turned out to be a day of sadness and a witch hunt when someone fell to illness, causing the whole town to be in an uproar. Was this the work of a witch? Who is involved? And will the guests have to choose a side? This was our experience with Last Call Theatre’s The Harvest, the latest immersive and interactive play.

Last Call Theatre is a Los Angeles-based immersive theatre company that creates highly interactive plays that bring the world to the guests who enter. There are many ways to play, and one can interact with different actors in different ways, making it a truly unique experience for each person. (You can check out our experience with its previous production, The Collective.) The Harvest is one of Last Call Theatre’s most thrilling and enthralling shows yet filled with joy and darkness as guests are tasked with discovering the secrets of Windsor Grove.

Since The Harvest is an interactive experience, it’s highly encouraged that guests participate and immerse themselves in the story. I created a background where I was a distant relative of Isaac, an excited villager who wanted to court another villager, and I was tasked with helping with the process. This involved teaching dance moves, a quest for a lovely gift, and more. I was also tasked by other villagers to help prepare for The Harvest including collecting ingredients.

As the 100th Annual Harvest Festival started, a day of jour quickly turned sour as someone fell ill. This is believed to be the work of witchcraft, and Mayor Corey wants to get to the bottom of those who are responsible.

With foul play in sight, it’s up to the guests visiting Windsor Grove to dig deep into who the villagers are and what secrets they keep. Since we’re able to choose our own adventure, we could interact with any of the villagers and help them out, and we could even take sides or play both sides. The choice is yours.

The interaction with the performers is the meat of The Harvest, and they help steer you in a direction that helps move the plot along. With so many characters, story elements can happen anywhere and even in other locations without you knowing it. As for me, my task was to help out the ones who were being accused of witchcraft, and I tried to find out more about the suspects while trying to figure out the true story.

I won’t divulge details of the ending, but let’s just say that some of my actions resulted in our experience getting the bad ending. (That depends on whose side you’re on.) I thought I was trying to help, but it turned out that I exposed secrets that are too damning to ignore. Was there another way to get a happy ending? Probably, but that’s what makes The Harvest so special. Each show can have different outcomes, and they could be good or bad. It’s all up to you and your group.

The location of The Harvest is at The Count’s Den in Downtown Los Angeles, an eerie venue that captures Windsor Grove. With many rooms all around, it’s a fun experience with surprises in every corner.

You can get tickets for The Harvest at Last Call Theatre. It is now running until December 16th and is located at The Count’s Den (1039 S Olive St, Los Angeles, CA 90015).

Featured image: Kale Hinthorn as Martha in Last Call Theatre’s The Harvest. Photo credit: Charly Charney Cohen