Inviting attendees to step back in time, and whisking them away to fascinating fictional realms, Bobby Cole – the founder of Histoire Productions – and production manager Alastair Jenkins are part of a growing community of creators we saw reflected in our 2023 Event Trends Report. Let’s call them ‘experience architects’ – the two in three creators around the world who agree their job is less about producing events and more about designing experiences. Our survey also revealed a clear appetite among attendees – the majority would rather attend a live experience than receive a physical gift (63% in the UK, 62% in Ireland) – but it’s not as simple as ‘build it and they’ll come’.
For Bobby and Alastair, success in the immersive events space lies predominantly in their storytelling skills. You could say they’ve turned hosting experiential events into an art form. Bobby has an impressive repertoire of music composing credits under his belt and, now in its fifth year, the Queen of the Ocean evening started life as an album of songs inspired by the final 24 hours of the Titanic’s maiden voyage, before his mum encouraged him to find a venue where attendees could also enjoy dinner. The rest (as they say) is history and the epic theatrical experience is now touring the UK with the long-term dream of opening a residency in London.
The importance of skillful storytelling
Striving for a balance between entertainment and education, Bobby approaches each project by immersing himself in the event – watching documentaries and reading books in order to approach the task with in-depth knowledge. “It’s a huge amount of research but there’s no getting around that. There are no shortcuts,” he says. “The 1997 film romanticises the tragedy, but when people see our show they realise it’s more than a love story. I want people to understand the human impact of that night. That’s the biggest driving force for me.”
The importance of factual accuracy is all part of Histoire Productions’ commitment to treating the stories they tell with respect. “We avoid cheap thrills and strive to offer a respectful recreation of a very tragic event,” says Alastair, and this is something that’s achieved through a handful of actors and carefully curated visuals. From the minute attendees walk through the door to the minute they leave, a CGI graphic shows the Titanic sinking in real-time while archival footage of RMS Carpathia, the rescue ship, coming into New York is screened towards the end of the evening.
Meanwhile, the Chernobyl event places attendees in the control room of the nuclear power plant on 26 April 1986 and features drone footage of Pripyat and the JFK event draws on the scenes shot by bystander Abraham Zapruder as the President’s motorcade passed through Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas in 1963. Challenging attendees to solve a series of puzzles to prevent the assassination from taking place, Alastair says the idea is to “give people the chance to race against a countdown clock to change history, and it’s interesting seeing how they react to that”.
Always encouraging attendee interactions
Bobby believes that as people emerged from lockdowns, they looked to events to offer real-life interactions. “We’re seeing more and more ticket buyers engage with immersive events, but we never want our interactions to make audience members feel embarrassed or put on the spot,” says Bobby. “We’re not an amusement company where actors chase people down a corridor like in a horror film. That’s not what we’re about. The interactions we offer are quite incidental and people love just being in the world we create. We’re playing on people’s nostalgia and a desire to travel back in time.”
Guests are invited to wear era-specific eveningwear and sit down to a menu based on the final meal served on board while a small cast shares personal narratives. All this combines to make attendees feel they have stepped on board the Titanic, however, the immersive experience begins before they even arrive.
“Once they’ve bought a ticket, passengers receive an automated email from Captain Edward Smith,” says Bobby. “He advises them to dress warmly as we head out onto the Atlantic and says there have been reports of ice. This sort of communication makes things interesting for attendees from the moment they book. Rather than simply saying, ‘here are your tickets’.”
Alastair says it’s important that this approach extends to social, with the team replying to comments in character. “We interact with our customers as much as we can on social as it’s a great way of building a relationship with our attendees. It puts the attendee into a role almost instantly and we want to get them into that headspace. So when they enter the room, they are in 1912. That’s important for us.”
Managing everyone’s expectations
When preparing people for the night ahead, Bobby says one of the trickiest things is explaining what the event entails. “Some people might think they’re going to watch the film and have a boozy night, others think it will be a musical or a strict theatre piece that you simply sit and watch and don’t do anything. Because our concept is slightly out of the ordinary, we try to explain what we’re doing in advance, however, we need to achieve a balance and avoid explaining everything. We like to keep a little bit of mystery about what they may experience.”
As with all events, it’s been a continual learning curve, and one of the most important things the pair have learned along the way is to put themselves in their attendees’ shoes. “Sometimes it’s the smallest detail that can make the biggest difference, one example, although it feels like such a silly little thing, was our decision to give attendees access to the venue before the start time,” says Bobby. “We used to have 200 people waiting to get in, which would result in a huge queue at the bar and people complaining. That’s a problem, because if someone is upset or angry – even if you put on the best theatre show ever – you’ve lost them. And we were risking losing them at the very start of the evening. By opening the venue 30 minutes earlier, entry is staggered. Something as trivial as that makes the night run much better.”
Behind the scenes, Alastair says the Eventbrite platform keeps things smooth and streamlined, in particular the copy event function, which speeds up the process of posting repeat events. He notes that the platform also helps the team manage the attendee list, which is important when much of Histoire Productions’ marketing revolves around email newsletters. “We use MailChimp to follow up with attendees and promote new events that are coming to their area – for example – we were in Bristol a few months ago, now we’re heading to Cardiff, so it makes sense to target those previous attendees. As we grow and add more and more cities to our tour, it helps to keep in touch with people this way. Similarly, because most of our shows are historical-based, we see some cross-pollination – the people who come to Titanic will often want to come to JFK.”
Constantly seeking ways to improve and evolve
But despite having established a series of successful events, the team aren’t showing any signs of slowing down. “We’re always looking for ways to revise and grow our show – it’s a constant conversation and one that never really finishes,” says Bobby. “What are other event organisers doing? How can we make our evenings more enjoyable for the audience? Do we add more lights? Do we take away lights? Do we use more or less tech? Ultimately, what is going to benefit the show and help it reach its full potential?”
To understand what’s working (and what’s not working) the pair seek feedback from the people at the heart of the production – the actors, the tech team and the hospitality staff at each venue. “It’s important to understand how something works in practice,” says Alastair. “We can sit in a room all day long and say what we think might be the best idea in the world, but until we’re actually in that space and doing it live you don’t know how it works.”
As a result, preparations for Histoire Productions’ latest project – which launches in autumn and is based on The Shining – have begun in earnest. “To get out of a rehearsal room and into a real space, we’re doing a tech taster event for friends and family,” says Alastair. “That way we can see how the timings work. Then we’ll have a three-month revision period, which presents a brilliant opportunity to iron out any creases.”
It signals a move away from the historical aspect and opens up a world of creative possibilities. Using both the Stephen King novel and the 1980 film as a jumping-off point, the pair are currently working on a reimagined script that sees the characters of Jack and Wendy Torrance interact with audience members while video projections bring to life some of the supporting characters. “It’s a story we love, so we can’t wait to immerse audiences in our version of the Overlook Hotel,” says Alastair.
Are you feeling inspired by Bobby and Alastair’s story? Check out more of their upcoming events and start planning your next immersive event here.
