Eschaton is a virtual nightclub in the age of lockdown

The Covid-19 pandemic changed the way the world works. From working from our homes to connecting with friends and family over video calls instead of Friday night dinners, the virus outbreak completely transformed the way we live our lives. It helped that video calling apps increased their limits in order to allow more people to connect in a single video call, especially at a time when connecting with people became difficult and rare. However, these apps still couldn’t replace, in some distinct way, the buzzing nightlife or weekend plans that a lot of people used to have in the pre-pandemic era. Now, Eschaton is there to fill in this gap.

To give you a quick brief, Eschaton is a nightclub cum performance art theatre that hosts virtual parties where guests connect over a Zoom call and enjoy like they would in the real world. It is, as The Verge explains, like the online version of Sleep No More, which is an adaptation of Shakespear’s Macbeth. Guests dress up and they wander, sometimes even participate, from room to room in a hotel where artists have put up a show.

“Welcome to Eschaton, a maze of rooms featuring dozens of NYC’s finest performers. Wander this shuttered nightclub where you can interact and find a new strange delight behind every doorway. Meet up with friends, invite a date, or come alone. Doors reopened for a limited time,” Eschaton’s website reads.

Users can join these shows by logging in via Zoom Client for meetings. But not everyone can enter the Zoom rooms. As the publication notes, the entry fee for 60-mins of the experience, which is also the duration of the show is around $10 ( ₹760 approximately). Ticket holders get a link and a password for the Zoom call via an email on the day of the show 15-minutes before the club opens.

Once in, guests can navigate through ‘dozens of rooms at their own pace and witness diverse performances in each space’. Guests can be seen in various rooms. They can also visit their friends once they are inside the club.

As far as the dressing up part is concerned, guests can wear anything that they want. However, Eschaton recommends treating it ‘as a night on the town’.

Eschaton hosts an hour-long show every Saturday night at 7PM PST (7:30AM IST on Sunday). Currently tickets for the May 23 show are sold out. However, you can get a ticket for the May 30 show if you hurry up.