A few months ago, I heard about a series of miniature doors popping up around New York.
I came across my first door in Williamsburg after my friend bent down to tie her shoe. This one was bright red in color with a white outer frame.
According to Untapped Cities, each door is tagged with QR codes, which lead to the Speakeasy Dollhouse, an interactive Off-Broadway show created by artist and playwright Cynthia von Buhler.
Unlike other theater performances, this one was entirely immersive. Audience members are given roles to play and encouraged to talk with the actors while wandering through the theater rooms. Before the event, the guests also received passports, actual newspaper articles and autopsy reports to set the scene of the play, which focused on the real-life murder of von Buhler’s grandfather, Frank Spano.
Interestingly, the doors weren’t installed by von Buhler as a way to advertise her own production. Rather, her fans have slowly put them up over the past few years on their own accord.
Today, she estimates that there are roughly 150 doors spread across the city.
