It wouldn’t be “Romeo and Juliet” if something didn’t delay the star-cross’d lovers’ meeting — and, in the case of SONDERimmersive’s interpretive adaptation, “Through Yonder Window,” that something was a citywide curfew.
The creative minds behind SONDERimmersive opted this week to delay for a week the debut of their interactive performance piece, scheduled to be staged in the north parking garage at The Gateway with the audience in their cars, to deter the spread of COVID-19.
“In light of the curfew in SLC, and in solidarity with this important cultural moment,” the SONDERimmersive ticket page reads, the opening originally set for Thursday, June 4, will be rescheduled to June 11. The hourlong performances will run at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, June 11-13 and 18-20 — and possibly longer, if there’s enough demand.
“We feel strongly that art is a powerful and crucial means of expression, communication, and connection of humanity,” the SONDERimmersive team wrote. “We also believe strongly in equity and the importance of empowering disenfranchised voices. This week is a time to listen to and honor these voices.”
Tickets for the show are $45 a carload. The troupe will donate a portion of the show’s ticket sales to the Black Lives Matter Foundation.
The company opted to delay the opening when Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall on Monday declared a weeklong dusk-to-dawn curfew, after protests — in response to the death of George Floyd while in custody of Minneapolis police — turned violent last weekend. The mayor on Wednesday lifted the curfew.
