Astor & Grey finalizes production dates.
Astor & Grey, a new, interactive journey coming to Montclair, is set to officially open on Feb. 19 and run until Feb. 22. It will run for a second time from Feb. 26 to March 1.
On the days of the show, it will run at the following times and locations:
- Starbucks, located at 710 Bloomfield Avenue in Glen Ridge from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
- Le Petit Parisien, located at 10 Church Street in Montclair from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
- Asana House, located at 127 Valley Road in Montclair from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
- Trend Coffee and Tea House, located at 411 Bloomfield Avenue in Montclair from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
- Cafe Diem, located on the campus of Montclair State University next to the Sprague Library, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
- Terra at the Isabel Rose Cafe, located at 50 South Fullerton Avenue in Montclair for special times on weekends during normal business hours (4 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday)
According to Victor Carinha, co-founder and artistic director of the collective, Astor & Grey is about “an inconspicuous rendezvous inside a coffee shop with someone who will take you on a private journey about a missing brother and the establishment of a century old antique shop.”
The whole narrative at each location takes seven minutes to complete and is completely free and open to the public. Participants purchase a drink from the cafe and sit with the actor for the duration of the narrative.
According to Carinha, participants are engaged differently based on which character they are interacting with. Astor & Grey invites the participant to “engage in a journey culminating to the grand-reopening of an antique shop where stories are for sale, but not the items.”
The backstory of the Astor & Grey narrative includes two brothers, Astor and Grey Watson. The brothers opened an antique shop in 1915 and travel the globe separately for five years to then meet in a cafe and decide what they will bring back to their shop. However, the third time they return home is when the story takes a negative turn.
One brother prefers finding items that hold some sort of cultural significance, while the other is consumed by riches and obtaining items for profit. The narrative centers around the sudden disappearance of one of the brothers.
Participants have a possibility of interacting with one of three characters, one character per cafe: one of the brothers/co-owners, the mute shopkeep and a third character. Each character has a different story but participants are rewarded for approaching all three characters.
Astory & Grey is centered around the audience, and is sure to be a thrilling and completely different experience for Montclair.
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