Trapped Backstage: An Immersive Escape Room Experience was a custom designed escape room that was built in the Penn State Downtown Theatre Center as part of the School of Theatre student project series. Audience members were led backstage and into one of the dressing rooms where it was explained that they are cast members in a show who found themselves trapped by a mysterious villain who threatened to ruin their opening night by knocking out the audience with gas. By engaging with a series of props and puzzles the participants uncovered the alarm code to let themselves out of the room and stop the villain from succeeding. The room was developed to be immersive with an audio, lighting, and video system that placed the audience at the center of the story. Chapter 1 explains the details of the theming, lighting, and sound design. Chapter 2 elaborates on the technical concepts that were needed to create the event, and Chapter 3 breaks down each puzzle individually to explain it’s place in the storyline as well as how it was programmed.
