Dance With The Devil Under Wall St.

Imaginary Worlds

Eric Molinsky

Arts, Science Fiction, Fiction, Society & Culture

4.8 • 2.1K Ratings

🗓️ 29 January 2025

⏱️ 37 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The writer Jon Ronson and the creators of the immersive theatrical experience Sleep No More have teamed up to make a vast new immersive show that unfolds beneath a Wall St. skyscraper. Life And Trust tells the story of J.G. Conwell, a bank president on the eve of the 1929 crash who makes a Faustian bargain to return to his youth. We accompany him back to New York’s seedy and turbulent past of The Gilded Age. The experience of spending hours in the world of Life And Trust is almost indescribable since most of the story unfolds through dream-like sets and choreography. It’s also an open world theatrical experience, so audiences never see the same exact show, even on the same night. I talk with Chief Storyteller for Emursive Productions Ilana Gilovch, Executive Producer of Life and Trust Carolyn Boyd, and Jon Ronson about how Life And Trust came together, and why this is the perfect moment to explore the devil’s bargain of a bank. This week's episode is sponsored by Hims. Start your free online visit today at Hims.com/IMAGINARY Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to Imaginary Worlds, a show about how we create them and why we suspend our disbelief.
0:05.9	I'm Eric Milinski.
0:08.3	Last winter, a new coffee shop opened a block away from Wall Street in Lower Manhattan.
0:14.6	It's called Conwell Coffee Hall.
0:17.5	The reviews online were very positive, people like the cappuccinos, the French toast, and the art deco decor, which looked like it had been beautifully restored.
0:27.7	The room itself used to be a bank. The baristas stand behind an old teller desk. And behind them is a mural about banking and finance that looks like it's 100 years old.
0:40.3	The building is called Conwell Tower, and it was founded by a man named J.G. Conwell.
0:46.3	But when people looked him up, they discovered something weird.
0:50.3	J.G. Conwell never existed. This bank, life and trust, it didn't exist either. On top of that,
1:00.5	the owners of the coffee shop, were connected to sleep no more, an immersive theatrical show that ran in New York for 14 years.
1:10.2	In immersive theater, the barrier is broken down between the audience and the performers.
1:15.6	You don't sit in a seat and watch a story unfold on stage.
1:19.6	You and the performers inhabit a space together.
1:22.6	The show unfolds around you.
1:25.6	A few weeks ago, on a chilly Sunday night,
1:30.0	my wife and I stepped out of the Wall Street subway station
1:32.8	and walked towards Conwell Coffee Hall.
1:36.2	If you're not familiar with Lower Manhattan,
1:38.4	it's a fascinating space.
1:40.1	That's where the Dutch settlers founded New Amsterdam.
1:43.3	So the streets are very narrow and winding.
1:46.0	The buildings are mostly skyscrapers, so there's like a zigzag of sky above you.
	...

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