by David Pisa and John Heimbuch
June 2019 – July 2023
CABAL closed in July 2023. Stay tuned for our next play-with-puzzles!
Forgotten alchemy. An ancient order. The pursuit of new magic.
You live your life like most people, unaware that dark and dangerous forces are at work.
Soon you will be called to act. Soon you will join the fight. Soon you will be illuminated.
When a renegade magister’s quest threatens the Cabal’s very existence, who should control this ultimate power?
Enter the secret society and unlock the truth.
An original Play with Puzzles by Walking Shadow Theatre Company.
About Cabal
- Cabal is an immersive, interactive performance. You will engage with actors and other audience members to solve puzzles and discover the story.
- Cabal lasts approximately 90 minutes.
- Cabal is made for 6 to 10 audience members.
- Advance purchase required – not available at the venue.
- There is NO LATE SEATING for Cabal.
- Cabal does not have standard theatre seats. Audience members move through the space, and may be asked to stand or sit. Please be prepared to walk or move at least 600 feet during the course of the event. The venue and experience are wheelchair accessible.
- Content advisory: flashing lights, sudden loud sounds, references to magic and the occult.
- Recommended for ages 14 up.
- See our COVID safety policies below
Where is Cabal?
Cabal is performed at 2010 East Hennepin Ave, just east of Stinson Blvd, between I-35W and Highway 280. This address is shared by several different buildings. Details on our specific location are available when purchasing tickets.
What the Press Has to Say
“Cabal is not just a puzzle room but a series of puzzle rooms, and successes unlock gateways to previously unseen environments. Each striking space was created by Pisa with dozens of collaborators” — Jay Gabler, City Pages
“Escape rooms are all the rage these days. In communities large and small, it’s possible to pay money to get locked up in a room with friends and/or strangers and then battle the clock and a variety of brain-twisting puzzles. It’s an inherently dramatic form, and Walking Shadow Theatre Company was an early adopter in adding performers to an escape room and calling it theater… I’m not an escape-room aficionado. But I will say that “Cabal” is engaging, involving and exceedingly well-crafted; an experience well worth having.” — Dominic Papatola, Pioneer Press
“Suffice to say: if you are a fan of new theatre or puzzle rooms, this is probably the perfect fit for you. As a puzzle-room lover myself, it was great to experience both exciting new theatre and interactive, collaborative elements. All groups are kept to a 10-person maximum, so you really can feel part of the experience.” — Laura Schmidt, Broadway World
COVID safety:
We do not require proof of vaccination. Our mask policy requires guests to wear non-cloth masks such as N95, KN95, KF94 or surgical masks (available at the venue if needed).
Cabal is an immersive experience in a small space. Actors and performers will be sharing the same area. Social distancing is not possible, but audience capacity is limited to 10 people. Actors are vaccinated and boosted, and will also be wearing masks. Cabal involves touching objects and surfaces. You will be handling things that other people in your audience are also handling. The CDC considers the risk of COVID transmission via surfaces low compared with droplet transmission and airborne transmission. Patrons will, at one point, hold hands. Hand sanitizer will be provided.
If you feel even mildly sick or have had a recent COVID exposure, please do not attend. Let us know, and we will work with you to reschedule for a different performance for no additional cost.
Love Minneapolis Puzzle Rooms? You’ll Love Cabal!
The Twin Cities has a great puzzling community, and great escape rooms. Escape rooms are immersive entertainment where you are not just a member of the audience – you are a participant. Solve puzzles to unlock the secrets of the room before time runs out. Escape rooms are incredibly immersive experience, and Minneapolis and Saint Paul have some of the country’s best escape rooms.
If you like escape rooms, you’re going to love Cabal. Cabal is a truly unique experience that marries a riveting theater performance with an interactive puzzle room.
Walking Shadow Theater Company is known for making theater that challenges audiences, and are leaders in marrying the storytelling of traditional theater with the excitement of escape rooms in their Plays with Puzzles. In Cabal, you become an initiate of a magical order – but not everything is as it seems. You must work together to uncover clues, solve puzzles, and discover the story of the Order of the White Stag.
Cabal is beloved of escape-room fans. It is an immersive experience for 6-10 players, and can be enjoyed with friends and family. Come as a group, or join in with strangers – you won’t be strangers for long! We are sure you’ll have a lot to talk about once you have experienced Cabal.
Walking Shadow Theatre Company is an innovator in creating immersive Plays with Puzzles. The first of these Plays With Puzzles was 1926 Pleasant -an immersive theater experience that critics called “A puzzle — literally. And you get to help put it together. There are two threads and many pieces to this intriguing, enigmatic trip.” Other plays followed, including Saboteur and Reboot, an online Play with Puzzles. Each of these plays joins innovative and challenging puzzles to an immersive environment with incredible attention to detail in support of a thought-provoking story presented by a talented cast. It’s a 1-2-3-4 punch!
Cabal is co-created by David Pisa and John Heimbuch. David Pisa has a resume full of puzzles and escape room experience. The Cabal space is located in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
A date night like no other. You and your date will have plenty to talk about afterward. Or book a private performance for your family or friends. Also great team building for your business or board. Book your tickets for Cabal today!
Frequently Asked Questions About Cabal
Cabal is a live performance in which the audience participates in the action of the show by doing large-scale, hands-on puzzles. These puzzles are interspersed with theatrical sequences (much like cut scenes in a video game) and the story is revealed through this combination of performance and puzzles.
Yes. The entire experience is wheelchair accessible, including the bathrooms.
Yes, Walking Shadow has created three previous plays with puzzles, 1926 Pleasant (2006), Saboteur (2011), and REBOOT (2021, online).
As far as we know, we’re the only company in history to combine theater and puzzles in this way.
Yes, but not in the way you might be used to. The audience isn’t expected to act or converse with the performers. You won’t be required to dance or wear funny hats. You just get to do awesome puzzles.
No. You won’t be asked to take on a specific role. You’re just yourself. The actors won’t put you on the spot.
Cabal is a kind of show we call a Play with Puzzles. It’s a play: it has actors who perform scenes that you’ll watch. But it also has puzzles and elements that you’ll get to interact with. In that way it’s a little like an escape room. But these puzzles are bigger, and designed for everybody to play as a team, without splitting up. Plus, the puzzles are integrated into the story in a way you don’t usually get in an escape room.
You’d be surprised — you may have just the insight your team will need! But there will be other people at your performance who love figuring out the puzzles, and helping them find solutions can be lots of fun. We won’t put you on the spot. We won’t force you to do anything. You don’t need previous experience with puzzles. You can participate more or less, depending on how you’re feeling.
These are original, large-scale, hands-on puzzles. Not paper-and-pen games, not crossword puzzles, not trivia. The puzzles are big, and built into the environment. Past shows have included a laser maze, a dark room full of eggs and bones, and an enormous jigsaw puzzle. Puzzles require the audience to work together as a team.
It’s designed to be fun, not difficult. Unlike some escape rooms, there’s no ticking clock, so you won’t run out of time before the end. The puzzles are meant to be clever, not fiendish. Everyone will “win”!
Maybe a little. If it were a movie, it’d be more of a mystery or a thriller than a horror flick. The show deals with ancient magic and dark secrets. But there’s no blood or violence.
Only in that it’s an immersive, environmental show. The popular Sleep No More in New York might currently be the most famous interactive show, but the history of site-specific performances is long and varied. While Sleep No More lets you choose your own path from among so many possibilities you can’t possibly encounter them all, Cabal tells a specific story, and you’ll definitely get to see the whole thing. In Cabal, you won’t wear a Sleep No More-style mask, you are allowed to talk with your fellow audience members, and you’ll get to solve big puzzles!
It’s tricky, because once you know how the puzzles work, you could spoil the discovery for your fellow audience who are experiencing it for the first time. If you think you can keep from giving away the surprises, by all means!
Cabal takes place in one location. You’ll be walking from room to room, but we won’t be kidnapping you in a van and taking you anywhere. Total distance traveled will be about 600 feet, all indoors.
Cabal does not have standard theatre seats. Audience members move through the space, and will alternate between standing and sitting. You should expect to be on your feet for approximately half of the 90 minute show.
No. We ask that you bring no food or drink into the performance space. There is a drinking fountain in the building, available before the show.
Because of the hands-on nature of Cabal, it’s important to keep the audience small (maximum of 10 people per performance). Most shows will sell out well in advance, and we won’t be able to add extra people at the door. That’s why we’re doing so many performances, so everyone gets a chance to see it.
Sure! You can buy for multiple people, as long as you provide separate info (name, email, phone number) for each person. We want to make sure everyone understands what they’re in for! We discourage surprising your friends with tickets, in case they aren’t comfortable attending an interactive event.
You don’t need to worry about securing a private experience. If we were playing a regular escape room, we’d want to go just with our own regular puzzle-solving team… but this isn’t a regular escape room. It’s theater, and it’s designed to bring people together. We think this show works great when you’re playing with some strangers.
You CAN buy out a whole show in order to have a private experience; in this case, a minimum of 6 audience members is required for the show to work (maximum 10). Purchasing a whole show has a set price, as opposed to the usual per-person price.
Please note that there is no late seating. We ask that you arrive 15 minutes before showtime, to make sure you’re able to get in and get settled. (And use the bathroom.) The lobby will open 15 minutes before showtime.
The audience moves through the space. If you’re late, we’ll have moved on to another area. Cabal doesn’t happen in a traditional venue with a lobby and a box officer, so once the show starts, there won’t be anyone to guide you safely into the playing area. Also, the audience works together as a team, so everyone needs to start together.
Success is a journey, not a destination! Cabal won’t have winners and losers, just people who participate in the show and people who miss out on a unique event. Don’t worry, we’re not going to time you, and we won’t be comparing one audience against another. Sure, there are puzzles to solve, but it’s more of an experience than a competition.
