Styrmir Elí’s Untitled, 1970 is a Not-To-Be Missed Multimedia Marvel

2024 has dawned, and with it comes a remarkable foray into truly immersive theater.

Untitled, 1970 is the story of best friends Tristan (writer and producer Styrmir Elí) and Joey (Charlie Jordan). The two European artists have moved into an apartment on Locust Street in Bushwick—and the play is performed in that very apartment. Every scene that takes place in their spacious living room/kitchen is witnessed live by the audience, who are sitting on comfy couches and chairs just a few feet away from them. The refrigerator where Tristan and Joey get their drinks is the same one that is available to the audience to imbibe beer and seltzer from (during intermission of course). The restroom of the “theater” is the apartment’s actual bathroom, also utilized (vividly) by the characters during the play. And anything that takes place outside of the main room of their apartment is shown on a large screen to the right of the kitchen—we see the pair leave the apartment through the real front door, then we witness their outdoor activities on film; and then they return to us live once more to continue their story.

It makes for a remarkable and unique experience; early on, the audience watches Joey on screen, as he contemplates—and decides against—asking out the check-out girl at the supermarket. Soon we’re back in the same room with him as he broods Hamlet-like about his inaction.

Tristan is the extroverted, “every day to the fullest” type; Joey is the sullen student of “what’s-the-pointilism”, brooding and lost after the death of his beloved father. He skips fun evenings out so he can stay home and work on his novel—and then writes nothing all night. He flips through Netflix watching documentaries about penguins mating and bees pollinating, a mocking reminder of his inability to connect romantically. Tristan prefers to have a good time drinking with local friends and looking for sexual conquests. Despite their opposing outlooks, the two have a brotherly bond that transcends any philosophical disagreements (which they gleefully debate over many a beer). “You’re overthinking!” “And you’re a piece of shit!” they playfully jab.

At an artist’s house party Tristan meets Cecilia (Katja Minaev), a beautiful woman that captivates him instantly. After a night of dancing, he brings her back to the apartment for a lengthy session of foreplay (complete with a tantalizing game of Truth or Dare). With the playgoers barely inches away, it creates for an uniquely intimate, almost all-too-real experience, with the barrier between actors and audience nearly non-existent inside the confines of the living room.

Joey encounters Cecilia leaving Tristan’s bedroom the morning after (in a hilariously awkward moment). Realizing that his roommate is living and he isn’t, Joey makes another attempt at healing his pain through writing. He is at the kitchen table hunched over his laptop as a series of glimpses into the past unfold onscreen, including a beach sequence featuring an exquisitely shot sunset. The dying light is flanked by Tristan and Joey as the latter tells his best friend the devastating news about his dad, and we experience the depth of connection between them.

Suddenly that deep friendship is tested when Tristan breaks the “bro code,” and practically brags about it. This sends Joey into the depths of despair, and then into a fateful day of debauchery that seems destined to end in triumph—before things go shockingly wrong.

Untitled, 1970 is a love letter to New York City that doesn’t pull any punches about its dark side, and how it can consume and extinguish even the brightest of lights. Events unfold in the bars, clubs, and on the city streets (in beautifully shot, often surreal footage), and then the aftermath of those events takes place in the apartment, making the circumstances all the more real and impactful. The actors are collectively astonishing; over the course of the evening Tristan and Joey come to feel like real people to us—even friends—and we live every victory and heartache along with them. Through this innovative method of storytelling, Elí, a true visionary, has created a remarkable modern masterpiece that must be seen by lovers of both immersive theater and the city that cultivates it. Untitled, 1970 unfolds at 28 Locust Street in Brooklyn at 8 pm through January 26, 2024