Attendees at a previous Medieval Fantasy Tavern at Quonk go through the onboarding process in preparation for the immersive experience.
Photo credit: Dan Little Photography.
NORTHAMPTON — QuonkHampton, a new immersive arts space nestled in the basement of 122 Main St., is creating unique experiences for attendees looking for a change of pace to their evening entertainment options.
Also known as Quonk, the idea for this new space comes from owner and founder Jonathan Pedigo, a Hampshire College alumnus who moved back to Northampton in 2023.
“No one quite knows why it is Quonk. Many of my friends told me it was a bad idea to name something Quonk,” said Pedigo, with a laugh.
Pedigo said in his life, quonk was the nickname he gave to Quest Chips, his favorite chips, so naturally, that was front-of-mind for him when thinking of the new venue’s name.
“I think there’s another definition, which could be like, it’s like a quest, but a mini fun quest. Like a quonk. It’s not quite a full quest, it’s a fun, silly adventure,” said Pedigo.
By definition, quonk is a noise that disturbs or disrupts a television or radio program because of its proximity to microphones or cameras.
But Pedigo explained to Reminder Publishing that the name has layers to it, and sometimes things just come together by chance.
“Accidents are part of our process,” added Pedigo, when talking about developing the space.
To get an idea of what Quonk is all about, the current monthly show, Medieval Fantasy Tavern, has transformed the space into a medieval tavern, with actors playing roles and characters while attendees frequent the bar like one typically would.
Herem patrons can get drinks and interact with one another, or with any of the roaming characters, including Kragnar, the Guardian of the Tavern, while they become immersed in the space. Most of the actors in attendance are also professional bartenders, adding even more to the immersive experience.
Pedigo said before attendees enter the space, they use an app to go through the events’ onboarding process, a crucial design of the show. The app and onboarding process help establish the “core facts” of the night for attendees. These core facts help build the setting for the evening as well as essentially the guardrails for where things can go within the figurative sandbox.
“The sandbox is down there. Onboarding happens up here, so everyone is on the same page. We put the facts up front so people will play with you downstairs. It’s an incredibly effective design that it took us a while to really settle on, but it’s helped incredibly so; it’s like night and day,” explained Pedigo. “It’s really not meant to feel like it’s a piece of theater.”
As the night goes on, there are typically two story beats that help advance the overarching world attendees are immersed in. Each night plays out differently by nature, said Pedigo, leading to a unique ending to the show each night.
“After about an hour, the team all huddles up in the back, and we just discuss what have we been talking about with everybody? Are there any standout story lines amongst the participants? What are some common themes? And we decide on what the finale is going to be live,” said Pedigo. “It’s an electric energy. It’s very obvious that everyone is kind of flying by the seat of their pants, and that energy is part of the design. It’s intentional. By the time the finale comes, we have not rehearsed it, we don’t know what order people will say what, but people are watching us just like an improv[isation], but the suggestion comes from an hour of role playing with people.”
Quonk opened to the public last fall, but this is not Pedigo’s first foray into theater. In 2017, he opened his own immersive theater show in Northampton from his own apartment called “Bar of Dreams.” The immersive play focused on a young person who wanted to open his own bar, but his depression from the realities of the world has prevented him from following through.
“I just love getting people to interact. I didn’t really see examples of being able to do that in person. Like, I love how advanced games get and the advanced levels of play you can get to. People would throw theater, and parties, but there’s not as much play. So, I started exploring immersive theater and LARPing [live action role playing],” he said.
Pedigo grew up south of Chicago and moved to the area when he became a student at Hampshire College in the 2010s. After graduating college, he moved to New York City and worked in software before moving back to Northampton in 2017.
Pedigo explained that, during his time as a student at Hampshire College — and later on through trips to New York City, he learned on the fly how theater could reach grander heights.
“I would come back here and tell my roommate Alex, ‘dude the experience I went to was crazy. I was talking to these actors, and then I was the main character for a second, and I was dancing on stage for everybody,” explained Pedigo.
Pedigo and his partner on the production eventually moved to Los Angeles in the summer of 2018 and brought “Bar of Dreams” with them. Pedigo returned to the area in 2023 seeking to reignite the community connections he had prior to his departure, and to also experiment and see what could be added to the immersive arts scene in Northampton. By spring 2024, Pedigo found a home for Quonk.
Since officially opening in 2025, Quonk has been a big hit thanks to its monthly Medieval Tavern show and monthly masquerade event, according to Pedigo. But Quonk is also committed to providing a space for art outside the scope of what has been popular thus far. Pedigo said he plans to experiment with “intimate work,” like smaller-scaled immersive works or comedy shows.
While the immersive experience is less common, Pedigo said Quonk and its team received direct feedback while crafting what works and what doesn’t in this unique experience. He said the feedback came from play testing events before Quonk officially opened.
“It was really about understanding the behavior and motivation of people, and also the anxiety of people. For a lot of people, the idea of immersive theater is the scariest thing in the world because it’s like, ‘oh my god, the spotlights going to be on me, I won’t know what to say,’” Pedigo said. So, learning about these things and how to just create a really safe ground for people to express themselves in the shows, so that those feelings of anxiety, fear, nervousness and being uncomfortable, there’s support to all of that. We’re aware of it, and the experience is aware of it and can bring you further if you want.”
Overall, this passion and effort from Pedigo comes from a love of play, something he said too many adults suppress from their everyday lives. With the heightened level of sophistication coming from the Quonk experiences, Pedigo said he hopes people can relearn play and its importance in everyday life.
“I think it just requires a higher level of sophistication and a higher level of understanding,” Pedigo said. “It’s harder and harder to play because life bogs you down. But I think adults still want to play, and we still need to play. There are things in this world to take very seriously, but a lot of the time we take a lot of things very seriously that don’t really have to be. We should bring a stronger sense of play to a lot of scenarios.”
