Off the bustling streets of Chicago, the freshly painted, bright yellow brick walls of Roni and Mac Grocery catch your attention. As you step inside, a charming and enthusiastic young man greets you, Charlie. The aisles are lined with mostly bags of chips and candy. Rows of Grey Goose and cigarette boxes frame the register where he tends to his customers. Suddenly a figure dressed in all black rushes through the entrance. He\u2019s holding a gun. BOOM! He pulls the trigger and dashes back toward the door, all in a matter of seconds. Charlie has been shot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This isn\u2019t another Chicago crime story. Boxed Experience, or BoxedXp, combines a realistic premise with elements of an escape room to provide its audience with an immersive take on traditional theater. As the narrative continues, the audience walks through the storyline with the actors, searching for clues in a Choose Your Own Adventure-esque effort to solve the crime and decide if the accused character is guilty or innocent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The show gets intense, as themes of racism, colorism, and gender identity, among others, are portrayed through the characters. Creator and Executive Director Marcus Rashad said that he sought out a diverse cast and crew to accurately represent those topics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf we\u2019re telling a story from somebody else\u2019s eyes, it wouldn\u2019t be right if we just had an all-Black cast or an all-white cast,\u201d he said. \u201cWe wanted to make sure we had everybody [represented] \u2018cause if we\u2019re speaking on inclusion and diversity, we want to make sure that we can show that in the story as well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n