I am so excited to be speaking with Fairlith Harvey, the Artistic Creator of Dreamqueen Collective, an immersive theatre company based in Vancouver, Canada.

In addition to Fairlith's vision, I was drawn into her story because she used to program immersive sci-fi dining experiences at Times Square’s Mars 2112, and I used to book groups there when I worked in group sales for theatre.

In this interview, Fairlith answered my call to share:

• Her inspirations to becoming a writer and creator
• How being a funeral attendant inspired, The Last Resort, her latest immersive theatrical experience
• Where she would want her "Last Resort" to be
• How she had to save herself
• So much more

Connect with Fairlith: Website, Facebook, Instagram

The Last Resort plays on Sundays at Vancouver’s At The Waldorf (1489 E Hastings St) through November 24, 2024. Click here for tickets!

Set in 1971, The Last Resort follows a group of cruise ship passengers in the Bermuda Triangle who wind up in the titular hotel. The show’s immersive twist is that the audience members are the newest hotel guests, while the actors serve as the compelling – and perhaps other-worldly – mix of staff and patrons among them. It’s a party in paradise that might just be purgatory.

The Last Resort is an immersive theatre experience for adults 19 and older. Guests should wear comfortable shoes and dress for the 1971 cruise they never got to complete.

1. Who or what inspired you to be a writer/creator? There is nothing else on earth for me. I've been creating theatre since elementary school, talking my classmates and teachers into going along. Ever since the first operetta I saw when I was five, I've been focused on nothing else.

2. What made you want to create art for the immersive world of theatre over a more traditional telling? One of the most formative experiences I ever had when I first attended Punchdrunk's Sleep No More in 2014. I've since been back to see it nine more times since then, and each and every time I discover something new. Immersive theatre invites audience members to follow their own journeys throughout the course of the show, and watching guests share their experiences with each other after the show has always been a highlight for me; it creates a different kind of shared experience that traditional theatre usually doesn't offer.

3. One thing that definitely drew me into your story was that you programmed the immersive sci-fi dining experiences at Times Square’s Mars 2112 which I used to book groups at when I worked in group sales for theatre. How did you come up with this experience? I wish I had invented it! I love that you booked groups into that wild space. I wrote scripts, created costumes and choreography, and developed lore for the restaurant. There was even a stuffed animal of me! That was the closest I ever got to being a Disney princess; I was the Empress of Mars, painted blue and wearing a glittering cape and tiara. And cone head. I just loved creating fun scenarios to act out in the restaurant, and it was my first taste of what immersive theatre can be. Kids went wild for pizza from Jupiter. Wild.

Fairlith Harvey in The Last Resort
Photo Credit: Chelsey Stuyt Photography

4. Your latest immersive experience, The Last Resort, just opened in Vancouver, Canada, which is inspired by your work as a funeral attendant. Can you share this story with us? Working as a funeral attendant really opened my eyes to the myriad ways in which different people, religions and cultures related to death. I've attended just about every kind of funeral service that takes place in Vancouver, from Orthodox Greek ceremonies to Buddhist chanting rituals. Life and death might be celebrated differently, but working with decedents and their families helped demystify death to me.

Death isn't scary (though dying still is!) and hearing all the different ways people interpret what comes after life really started to open my mind up. I started writing a short play about purgatory in early 2024, but it wasn't quite firing right until I took a walk through the Waldorf, and I quickly pivoted to pouring all my new ideas into the concept of a tropical purgatory paradise.

5. What was your scariest or most unusual experience as a funeral attendant? I'm not sure if the scariest is the right thing to share, but my favourite descendant pre-planned her funeral so that she could account for every detail. This was years ago, and I remember her very clearly: the six stuffed cats she had buried with her, the Jackie O-style pink Chanel suit that hid sweatpants and slippers on her bottom half. She planned everything in white and baby pink, with orchids, and was dripping with rhinestone jewelry. She was buried holding an 8x10 of her cat. Her plaid-clad family showed up from Alberta with a completely different aesthetic. They adored her. She was 104 and she was the coolest. I'll never forget her.

6. What do you hope audiences come away with after attending The Last Resort? I hope they come away thinking about their own lives, how they're spending their time on Earth, how they'd want to be remembered and what their legacy could be. Our lives are both so long and so short, and any of us could go at any moment... if they did, what kind of regrets or unfinished business would they have? I've noticed people drawing more inward in the last few years (a global pandemic will have that effect), retracting from the world in ways both big and small and not giving too much thought to the bigger picture. I hope this play sparks a bit more thought with regards to the world and their place in it.

Andrew Wade, Cleo Halls, Barbara Guertin, The Last Resort
Photo Credit: Chelsey Stuyt Photography

7. If you were going to go to The Last Resort, what resort would that be? If purgatory was any kind of resort with a theme park attached, I'd be happy staying there forever. I'm fascinated by the design and aesthetics of theme parks, from their lighting and sound design all the way down to how they lay out their ride queues in a way that keeps guests immersed and entertained. The ultimate immersive art installation. But I'm sure anything would be a little boring if you had to stay there forever.

8. Another one of your latest projects is Dreamqueen Collective, an immersive experience exploring themes of saving yourself as an adult. What is something you've had to save yourself from as an adult? Myself. Dreamqueen Collective is my theatre company, with the goal of creating group projects with like-minded artists. All of the immersive theatre I've created in my career has been about saving myself. Alice in Glitterland was about growing up too fast and deciding to come back to that later, The Neverland Night Circus was about choosing yourself instead of external validation, and The Last Resort is about learning to break old patterns that hold you back. All were lessons I had to teach myself, and they were very hard-won.

9. Many of your productions include the use of glitter and faded feathers. What do you feel glitter and faded feathers add to the ambiance of the experience and what is your favorite color of glitter and faded feathers to use? Glitter and faded feathers are more of a metaphor for the kind of seedy glamour present in Bob Fosse and Baz Luhrman movies.... but my favourite is always dusty pink. I love that sort of old school dirty cabaret vibe.

Chicago, Cabaret, Sweet Charity, Moulin Rouge... Last Night in Soho, even. I want to live in those movies. Not the sad parts at the end, just the glittery parts. I know it's unrealistic, but it's what I want, and I've accepted myself.

10. What is something we didn't get to talk about in this interview that you'd like my audience to know about you? I encourage everyone to support local art and not let themselves burn out in the face of resistance to oppression. Also, learn a lot of dad jokes. We all need those. Now more than ever.

Fairlith Harvey, Photo Credit: Chelsey Stuyt Photography

More on Fairlith Harvey:

Dreamqueen Collective is the quixotic brainchild of award-winning Vancouver-based artist, Fairlith Harvey, and professional collaborating artists from all over Canada. Dreamqueen Collective creates dreamy immersive experiences exploring themes of saving yourself as an adult. Experiences can be anything from quirky game shows to fanciful explorations of philosophical ideas and transformations of mundane spaces into whimsical sandboxes... but always with glitter and faded feathers everywhere.

Born and raised in North Vancouver, Fairlith Harvey is an award-winning creator and writer. Passionate about themed entertainment design and immersive art, she has been sharing her imagination, directing, writing, and performing professionally for over fifteen years.

A graduate of New York’s American Musical and Dramatic Academy, Fairlith has created programming for New York’s immersive Times Square dining experience Mars 2112, Barkerville Historic Town, The Railway Museum of British Columbia, Whistler Village, and Disney Cruise Lines.

She is the founder of New York City’s Company 1B theatrical troupe, as well as Geekenders, for which she wrote and conceived of over 60 original dramatic works, burlesque plays, musical parodies, cheeky variety shows, and immersive productions including her 2019 hit, "Alice in Glitterland." Fairlith's work has been experienced by over 150,000 Canadian audience members and over 10 millionYouTube viewers.

Fairlith mixes glitter, inclusivity, warmth, and irreverent humour to create a dreamy onstage world examining perspectives that have been repressed. Her newest project, "Dreamqueen Collective," creates dreamy immersive experiences exploring themes of saving yourself as an adult, but wrapped in a glamourous, sexy, distracting bow.