What should I expect?

The Map of Now will be hosted festival-style on an interactive online platform called Gather.Town. Before each show, audience members will create their own online avatars who then set out on a digital map of Chicago visiting four of its most popular venues. Each venue is virtually rendered in such a way that represents the actual physical space, but in more of a retro, game-like world: think Mario Bros. or The Legend of Zelda meets the city of Chicago. When audience members arrive at their chosen destination, they will enter the digital space to find a virtual seat. Once “seated,” a simple click on an icon will launch a video of an original short performance, recorded in that same venue.

In addition to dreaming up a new platform to showcase Chicago’s diverse artists and venues, The Map of Now will explore community connectivity in an all-new way. When an audience member’s avatar draws close to you on the map, a video chat function pops up that allows you to engage in conversation, and maybe even catch up with someone you haven’t seen in a long time.

How should I prepare? 

We will be sending out our trusty Map of Now welcome manual the week of the festival so please keep an eye on your emails. This welcome manual is key! In it you will find the link to the map, a quick tutorial video, and a list of all the how-tos to navigate our map successfully. Those who have signed up for a tour guide experience, all pertinent details on where to meet and how to find your group will be found in your welcome manual.

Choose Your Own Adventure or Guided Tour. What’s the difference?

Guided Tours provide a pre-curated experience with a Map of Now tour guide who will take you on a journey through our Chicago Map. Extra technical support is available at all times ensuring a seamless experience navigating our virtual map.

Choose Your Own Adventure gives you the freedom to move about the map on your own time. Stumble upon hidden gems, games, and recognizable cultural landmarks found in Chicago. You don't have a tour guide to lead you places but if you do get lost, there is plenty of Map of Nowsupport staff available at all times to help guide you to your desired destination.

Tickets & Promo Codes

Tickets can be purchased for a specified entry time occurring every half hour between 5:00-8:00PM CDT. We ask that you stay committed to your entrance time & note that you have a 2-hr limit to explore the map.

Tickets are available on a sliding scale payment of $10-$25 available by the promo codes below. If there is not a promo code that reflects the price you would like to pay, there is a tip feature that you can use when checking out. Please note that a portion of your ticket purchase will go to the artists featured in The Map of Now. Every little bit helps and is appreciated!

$10: TIX10 $15: TIX15 $20: TIX20

Venue | Artist Feature

Lucky Plush Project Management

Kara Brody, Project Manager, Marketing
Rachel Damon, Production Manager
Jacinda Ratcliffe, Social Media, Marketing, and Artist Relations
Julia Rhoads: Project Director
Brenda Wu: Graphic Designer

Special Thanks

Lucky Plush would like express our deep gratitude to Dragon Productions Theatre Company for their invaluable production support and Gather.Town expertise as we developed The Map of Now. Additional thanks to the Committee on Theater and Performance Studies at the University of Chicago, through which we had the opportunity to hire the very talented Kellie Lu and Hailey Qu to develop our beautiful map.

MAP OF NOW VOLUNTEERS

Mikah Baumrin-Daniels Kim Goldman Giau Trong Ross Jordan
Jacob Buerger Ali Lorenz Stephanie Pacheco
Emily Soong Isabelle Taylor Katie Collins
Jennifer Edgcomb Meghann Wilkinson Zoe Lesser