We are absolutely delighted to announce that Grace O’Keefe has joined our team as our new writer in London, UK!
Grace hails from Baltimore, in the USA but finds herself writing, directing, acting and teaching over this side of the pond! You may know her as one half of the production company, The Queens of Cups, one of the organisers of the New Moon Monologues, or as the director of Saturn’s Return and Bad Teacher, coming soon to the Edinburgh Fringe!
Her favourite board game is Mysterium (*high fives from all the team*), and as a lifelong immersive theatre fan, we’re sure that Grace will fit right in at The Escape Roomer! Grace will be focused on reviewing all the fantastic escape room and immersive theatre events in London, as well as at-home puzzle games!
I know you’ll make Grace feel very welcome, and we’re all so excited to share more on Grace’s escapades in the near future!
Without further ado, here’s Grace to introduce herself!
Introduce Yourself!
Hello! I’m Grace, I’m a theatremaker, TV addict, and self-proclaimed astrology expert originally hailing from the US. I currently live in London where I work as the Head of Community and Theatre at Greenlit, a UK-based crowdfunding platform designed by and for creatives.
Escape Rooms, Board Games, Immersive Theatre… What’s your poison?
I think as a theatre nerd, I have no choice but to say Immersive Theatre, but I like to dabble.
When you’re not doing Immersive Theatre, how do you spend your free time?
Watching and making theatre, unsurprisingly, does take up a lot of my time, BUT I also frequently indulge in trashy reality TV and an endless stream of YouTube videos on topics ranging from witchcraft tips to the Sims. I also love food and cooking and used to have quite the reputation for throwing parties with themed menus.
What are some of the most memorable immersive experiences you’ve had here in the UK?
The one that sticks in my mind was C-O-N-T-A-C-T, which was an outdoor immersive theatre piece that involved you following two actors around central London with dialogue happening in your headphones. It was the first theatre piece I saw after the first lockdown, and I loved seeing how theatre could be innovated in the face of seemingly insurmountable challenges.
What are you most excited for, now that the world is reopening?
I really miss meeting new people and exploring new places! Also, it would be great if it were easier to see my family (that probably should have come first).
If you were given a blank cheque to create your dream immersive experience, what would it be like?
I really want to figure out a way to do an immersive musical. One that I think could be really interesting is Once Upon A Mattress, a retelling of The Princess and the Pea from 1959 with music from Mary Rodgers (really rare to have a female composer on a Broadway Musical) that is way ahead of its time. It features a loud, moat-swimming princess, a HBIC Queen, and a knocked-up ingenue, and it’s just buckets of fun. The structure of the show sets it up really well to allow the audience to become part of the court and I would love to give the musical (and Mary Rodgers) the credit it deserves.
A huge shout out once again to Grace O’Keefe! You can keep up with Grace’s on Instagram, Twitter or at graceokeefe.com. Read Grace’s reviews and articles here.
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