_ Ensemble theatre piece with some immersive elements in a non-traditional space._

Experienced: July 14, 2017 at Hollywood Fringe Festival
Location: Stephanie Feury Studio Theatre
Address: 5636 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles CA, 90038
Price: $15.00
Audience Size: About 20 per showing
Runtime: 70 minutes
More Information: Hollywood Fringe, Cadame Co., Instagram

The play starts out inside a long hallway with audience members on both sides of the wall. The action takes place right between us in this tight space. We are introduced to a man dressed in a suit and as he walks the halls he is followed by a woman who is seemingly affecting his movements. He can’t seem to see her but he can definitely feel her. They do a beautiful dance across this hallway sometimes inches from our faces. It’s a wonderful beginning that eases the audience into the immersive nature of this production.

The play takes place in multiple rooms inside the space. Some actors would break character a bit, coming back to life after being attacked for instance, to facilitate the movement of the audience from one room to the next. It worked nicely as they still remained “in character” in tone and demeanor.

There is a lot of action in this play through tense fighting scenes with people being attacked and reacting to others being attacked. People would run in and out of different doors to a room in these fight scenes keeping the action fast paced. Dance and music play have a major presence as well to further the story. A passage of time is sometimes passed through dance and it fits the overall production perfectly.

The final 15 minutes or so take place on a more traditional stage with the audience in seats. Overall this plays more like a traditional play in a non-traditional space as there is little to no audience interaction or participation. I enjoyed myself throughout and would suggest checking it out if you get the chance.

Dates: Fridays and Saturdays July 14-29, 2017
Location: Zombie Joe’s Underground
Address: 4850 Lankershim Blvd, North Hollywood CA 91601
Price: $15.00 tickets here
More Information: Zombie Joe’s site, Twitter

I didn’t get a chance to see the first iteration of Brave The Dark last summer but did go through Tortured Souls back in February 2017 and had a blast.

I plan to make it out to Zombie Joe’s for Brave The Dark this July! Check out the review here.

Remount tickets can be found here - note the venue change.

Experienced: June 17 and July 8, 2017 at Hollywood Fringe Festival
Location: Underground Theater
Address: 1312 N. Wilton Place, Los Angeles CA, 90028
Price: $15.00
Audience Size: 40-50
Runtime: 60 minutes
More Information: Klaus Kinski Live, Andrew Perez on Twitter, Klaus Kinski Reborn on Twitter, Hollywood Fringe

I hadn’t ever heard of Klaus Kinski but saw Andrew Perez at a Tension Experience panel during Scare LA in 2016 and his performance impressed me enough to follow him on Twitter. He started tweeting about a show he had been working on for Hollywood Fringe and I picked up a ticket without knowing much about it.

I was in awe from start to finish. The raw energy and emotion on display here is staggering. From the moment Kinski (make no mistake Andrew Perez IS Kinski) takes the stage to the moment he leaves it the audience is mesmerized. The opening speech was so riveting I teared up. It set the tone nicely for the emotional roller coaster to come.

The weaving of biographical monologue and scenes from Kinski’s life is entertaining and unexpected at times. Kinski is quite literally all over the stage, bouncing off the walls, flinging to the ground, on a soapbox, in the audience, and even backstage at times during the show. The pace is frenetic and exhausting. I’d never felt so drained at the conclusion of a performance and loved every moment of it. I enjoyed the show so much I had to see it again and it was just as captivating the second time.

Andrew Perez does an excellent job conveying the love and passion Kinski had for life. He subtly touches on some of the controversial topics surrounding his life. This is a portrayal of a flawed man with a strong desire to live life to the fullest.

Do yourself a favor and go see this and anything else Andrew Perez is in. He is a force to be reckoned with in whatever he decides to tackle next.

Tickets on sale now for Therapy and dreams.

Dates: August 25-27, 2017
Location: Undisclosed
Address: Echo Park, CA
Price: $100.00 tickets here
More Information: Sudden Loneliness Gift, Instagram

One of the surprise highlights of the 2016-17 season was Have You Seen Jake. The Sudden Loneliness Gift is the sophomore season from the non-profit company Nocturnal Fandango.

The Sudden Loneliness Gift is membership based (including a free tier) and includes access to Slack (chat), interactions with characters from their world, and invites to their paid events. If Nocturnal Fandango’s first set of shows is any indication you’ll want to be a part of this. Join the waitlist for more information!

Tickets on sale now for In Another Room.

Dates: Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays August 11-27, 2017
Location: Undisclosed
Address: Los Angeles, CA
Price: $60.00 tickets here
More Information: Instagram

With so many ARGs cropping up in Los Angeles it’s hard to know which ones to focus on. I personally am looking for those that will ultimately end up as an immersive theater piece so those that have a pop up event or ticketed show definitely catch my interest.

I had heard about In Another Room’s Instagram account and even started following them before any show or tickets were announced. Seemingly out of nowhere tickets are on sale for this event. The buzz surrounding it is pretty good so check it out if you get a chance!

Dates: July 14 and 15, 2017
Location: Stephanie Feury Studio Theatre
Address: 5636 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles CA, 90038
Price: $15.00 tickets here
More Information: Hollywood Fringe, Cadame Co., Instagram

I had the privilege of checking out the excellent Firelight immersive experience at the Stephanie Feury Studio Theatre and am excited to check out this piece in the same venue.

Check out the review here.

A hauntingly intimate masterpiece.

Experienced: June 17, 2017 at Hollywood Fringe Festival
Location: Undisclosed
Address: Los Angeles CA, 90038
Price: $17.00
Audience Size: 1
Runtime: 10 minutes
More Information: Hollywood Fringe, ABC Project Site, ABC Project on Facebook, Annie Lesser on Twitter, Annie Lesser on Instagram

This was my second time through Annie Lesser’s A(partment 8). I was contemplating selling my ticket because it affected me so much the first time (at last year’s Fringe) that I didn’t necessarily want to put myself through it again. I decided to give it a go because it’s only 10 minutes long and I was curious to see if anything had changed.

I don’t want to spoil it too much in case there is another remount but I will compare my first and second visits to A(partment 8) as it does differ even though the show is pretty much the same.

Both times through I was rendered speechless. The setting and tone is so spot on and disturbing that speaking, as if everything is OK, just feels wrong. I intended to say a lot more the second time around but my mind wouldn’t comply. I noticed the pitch-perfect acting and monologue this time — so much so I am convinced it has changed but am not so sure.

Needless to say this is an impactful piece and the first time affected me so much I sat in my car for about 10 minutes thinking of things I have never dreamed of thinking about before. It must have been some form of shock to my system. Annie Lesser has crafted a masterpiece that will haunt my dreams forever.

Six words to describe Red Flags: poignant, engaging, evocative, surprising, fun, depressing.

Experienced: June 17, 2017 at Hollywood Fringe Festival
Location: Undisclosed
Address: Los Angeles CA, 90038
Price: $25.00 (current run is $45 check here for more info)
Audience Size: 1
Runtime: 60 minutes (current run is 70-85 minutes)
More Information: Hollywood Fringe, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram

I missed Capital W’s Hamlet-Mobile but had heard great things about it. Since Red Flags was my first Capital W show I didn’t know what to expect with a description of being like a “bad first date”. All I knew from the Hollywood Fringe site was that the show was an hour with one actor and one audience member.

It started with an e-mail asking to meet at an intersection near a bar at my specified time. On the day of the date some text messages were exchanged. When I finally met Emma in person it was a whirlwind of an almost hour long conversation with surprisingly few awkward silences (I counted maybe 1). The flow was so natural — the give and take, meandering topics, references to everyday life, and interesting stories. It’s a testament to the writing and acting that this performance goes off without a hitch.

Capital W has mastered the art of conversation.

I would recommend this to anyone who is OK with a longer form conversational show as it is memorable and a highlight of my theater going experience. The character Capital W has created is more real than most people I’ve met.

The fact that this is a one-on-one show means tickets will be hard to come by so if there is ever an extension beyond Fringe (you’re in luck there have been extensions! click here for more info) do yourself a favor and buy a ticket immediately!

Some mildly spoiled random thoughts:

• While there were definitely red flags throughout the performance I was a bit surprised at how I reacted to them. This is where my “depressing” description comes into play. To me Emma was so vulnerable and self-critical I felt extremely sorry for her. I was compelled to try and make her feel better about every negative thought or action she revealed. I think I did an OK job with much of it though I did stumble a bit toward the end. This probably says more about me than anything I’d be very curious how others handled it.

• I was given a couple of choices for the date (go to the bar or for a walk) and in retrospect I’m wondering if the bar would have been more awkward (in a good way?) than a stroll through the neighborhood. I’m very curious how the setting affects the show if at all.

• After talking to a friend (who had a date right before I did) we realized just how scripted everything actually was. Every story point that we could think of was repeated. It made us appreciate the show that much more because it seemed impossible to us that what we experienced so natural yet scripted.

Remount tickets here! Mostly a logistical review compared to going through Chapters One and Two separately.

Experienced: June 17, 2017
Location: Thymele Arts
Address: 5481 Santa Monica Blvd, Los Angeles, 90029
Price: $40.00
Tickets: Remount tickets for each chapter here
Audience Size: 2-4
Runtime: 40 minutes
More Information: Kansas Collection, Hollywood Fringe, The Speakeasy Society, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram

I had already gone through the first three chapters (on separate nights) of The Kansas Collection but was very interested in seeing Chapters One and Two back-to-back.

Logistically this was buttery smooth but I guess it makes sense since The Speakeasy Society had remounted both of these shows separately a few times already. The space they used for this double feature was the same they used for Chapter Two.

My first time through Chapter One was in the backyard of a house in Los Angeles. I doubt the change to an indoor space detracted much from a first timer’s experience but being outdoors matched the big top tent decor much better. There was an extra scene between Chapters One and Two that served as a transition between the two stories that occurred via e-mail my first time around. After this interaction you are told to wait in the lobby for your number to be called. It would have been nicer to roll directly into Chapter Two but they make the wait fit with the story.

I commend The Speakeasy Society for going out of their way to make sure I got to experience something new in both Chapter One and Two. The girl checking me in asked, in detail, who I met with when I went through my first time and coded it up somehow on the numbered sticker everyone places on their shirt. She drew designs using a pen and colored the borders with a highlighter. This type of attention to a repeat visitor has made me a fan for life!

Chapter 1 concludes with major reveals in a jam packed pop-up event.

Experienced: June 17, 2017 at Hollywood Fringe Festival
Location: Estrella
Address: 8800 Sunset Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90069
Price: Free (iConfidant beta program participation required)
Audience Size: 40-50
Runtime: 60 minutes (15 minute reveal, private bar space)
More Information: iConfidant site, iConfidant Facebook, The Lust Experience site, Instagram, Facebook

Background of the iConfidant experience leading up to the pop-up event:

Seemingly out of nowhere (as is sometimes the case with The Lust Experience) a website revealed a new product that would help you “find your missing piece today.” This site promised to match you up with a confidant. Calling themselves a companion site they claimed to be different than the usual dating sites.

The process started with sending an email to their contact address. I quickly got a response from the Founder / CEO of iConfidant Stacey Erikson saying that she added me to their e-mail list of those interested in the program.

About a week later I got an email congratulating me on being selected for the beta test with a few questions for me to answer. These questions presumably helped to match me with my iConfidant. After another week the correspondence between me and my iConfidant was underway with a simple “Hi” emailed to me from my iConfidant.

Over the next 5 weeks or so my iConfidant and I had exchanged a total of 18 emails. The responses I got started out very generic and almost robotic which played into the theories people had that we were communicating with an AI instead of a real person. It was a slow pace but enough to talk about things ranging from the loss of a loved one to what our favorite TV shows were. It became obvious that I was talking to an extremely nuanced AI or an actual person. The experience for me was positive overall and I was excited to see a Facebook post mentioning that we would get to meet our iConfidant in person on June 11th.

Up until this point I had no idea what my iConfidant’s name or gender was. I had asked for a name but that question was ignored. I was very curious what the meetup would ultimately be. As the days drew closer to June 11th some suspicious things happened.

• Stacey Erikson did a facebook live video to discuss potential technical issues with the beta related to a security breach but reiterated that everything was fine and on for the June 11th meet & greet. It reminded me of a hostage video with her frequently looking at someone off camera to make sure she’s saying the right thing.
• Some participants in the beta program were getting calls and even visits from Stacey about some weirdness with iConfidant (a physical bugging device in someone a participant’s house for example).
• Literally minutes before reservations were released for the iConfidant Meet & Greet there was another facebook live video where Stacey hauntingly declares that she has no idea who the iConfidants we have been corresponding with are.

Day of the event:

The morning of the Meet & Greet we were emailed a zip code to be in for the 2pm event. Eventually we found out the event was to be held at Estrella in West Hollywood and introductions would start at 2:20PM. There was a private space for the iConfidant Meet & Greet attendees and after walking in we put a nametag on. This fit perfectly with the Meet & Greet theme but also allowed us to mingle with other iConfidant beta program participants.

We were gathered into a private theater space with seats in a room behind the bar at exactly 2:20PM for “introductions”.

Introductions begin (live streamed here):

The crowd was anxious as we filed into the theater. There was a tangible but oddly somber excitement in the air. Almost as if we knew something bad was about to happen. A legitimate meetup of someone you had been corresponding with for over a month wouldn’t feel so oddly formal. One individual even brought a bouquet of flowers for his iConfidant and had to awkwardly file into a theater with them.

A man finally stepped on stage encouraging us to whoop and holler to meet our iConfidants with “Who wants to meet their iConfidants!!” Suddenly he became very serious, robotic, almost possessed, as he started to yell at us about submitting ourselves wholly to The Lust Experience. The lighting on him and his tone of voice put a damper on the excitement as this event took a sudden sinister tone.

This was the beginning of many game changing reveals packed into the short 15 minute presentation:

• Stacey didn’t know the meet & greet was still happening after her last live stream revealed she wasn’t in control of iConfidant
• Kristen (who was filming Stacey’s final live stream) was playing her and used Stacey’s revelation as bait to get us all to come to this event
• Anoch (deity worshipped by the cult in The Tension Experience) is a part of The Lust Experience story. Up until this point there wasn’t much tying The Lust Experience to The Tension Experience.
• Tom (scientist that played Addison’s faux father and creator of brainwashing helmet technology in The Tension Experience) was behind the takeover of iConfidant from Stacey

The biggest reveal was when the crowd, once again, was asked the if we wanted to see who our iConfidants were. At this point I expected a group of handlers (female characters from The Tension Experience, dressed in white, taken in by the cult to follow Anoch) since many of the reveals up until this point were references to the previous season.

Only one hooded person came out on stage. The hood came off revealing Addison. The same Addison that drove off in the dramatic finale of The Tension Experience after she found out that much of her reality in the OSDM ‘cult’ was fabricated and that Tom wasn’t even her father.

One person was corresponding with all of us via email. She was all of our iConfidants. This reveal left everyone speechless. It tied together the story from the previous season with this current season. It brought back ties to the OSDM cult and Anoch and all the folklore we came to love. It re-introduced the main character through most of the live event from last year.

Tickets to the Meet & Greet were limited to those who were part of the iConfidant beta program so there was at least some vested interest in the reveal of our iConfidants. Anyone who was not a part of The Tension Experience would have probably been very confused but hopefully extremely intrigued. We had time to mingle after the presentation in private to discuss story points further. Overall this event was a great way to end Chapter 1 of The Lust Experience.

This event, despite not being fully immersive in nature, is a very satisfying way to further the long form episodic story being woven for us. Last year’s Scare LA presentation played out similarly and was what got me hooked into their world. I had little idea what was going on at the time but could tell by audience reaction that something very unique was brewing. Come along for the ride you won’t regret it!