During the day , the massive Boyle Heights storage warehouse that ’s the home ofThe Tension Experience– the just - open , horror - themed immersive theatre experience that ’s attempting to do for synergistic performance in LA whatSleep No Morehas done for the genre in NY – is about as characterless as storage warehouse total . The whole affair is hidden on a metropolis occlusion in plain sentiment behind a wrought - iron threshold , near power - lines and a pot dispensary scenting up the whole vicinity , just around the recess from a slew of massive trucks loading and unloading whatever it is massive motortruck unload .
inwardly is another story , though : Darren Bousman , the guy behind a bunch of theSawmovies , has create a world tinged with occult - style horror , and is inviting patrons to envision out the mystery behind a sacrificial cult that ’s take applications for new victims ( the backstory is so convincing that when the web site go up , some people reckon it was an actual cultus – and apply to link up ) .
In procession of its opening for Halloween season ( though the expectation is that , unlike many " haunt , " it will continue indefinitely ) – Bousman let us go behind the shot to see how it all go down .
Dustin Downing/Thrilist
The whole concept of interactive theater – essentially , a performance that blossom with audience members interacting with performers , and the business between them sometimes becoming so slender it ’s unsufferable to see – is not exclusively a new one in LA : Delusion , which at this point has become a Fall staple fiber that sells out immediately after day of the month are announced , is a particular - force - fill show with the audience occasionally performing a task or dragged out of a radical , only to appear afterward in an unexpected location . The recentThe twenty-four hours Shall Declare Itsort of operated as move theater - in - the - round , with a ginmill operate by performing artist as its centerpiece and final destination .
But no show in LA has had the full ingress of genre - definers likeSleep No More , which arrange patron in masks to make them anonymous before breaking them up from their chemical group , or London’sSecret Cinema , which literally recreates entire motion-picture show solidification and scene with the consultation able-bodied to interact with characters ( for instance , they latterly made a full - sized curing of Tatooine for anEmpire Strikes Back - themed show – and you could have drink with Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru in their gumption - hut .
The Tension Experience , the organizer explain to me in one of the the first rooms participant will see – what seems to be an old - age home ’s living room , with mystifier , older citizen who stare at you for minutes on , and promissory note hidden in mirror and furtively passed by caregivers – was lay out up to be a more psychological version of this immersion . In fact , long before the public performances , they were place up the report with a serial publication of insider - y intellect - fucking : telephone number hidden in messages from the writers led participants to psych tests , where they sat across from an interviewer who ask them deep secrets ( these interrogative , including everything from " do you call back animals can palpate " to " how often do you she-bop , " have made their path into both online questionnaires and the show itself ) .
Dustin Downing/Thrillist
" film used to be an escape valve and TV used to be an escape cock , " says producer Gordon Bijelonic , model on a vintage couch in the " waiting room . " " I say used to because there was a time we would go to the flick dramatics , would not take our speech sound with us . Today you ’re take in the movie but you ’re not present . You ’re watching it but you ’re responding to e-mail . You ’re keep an eye on the moving-picture show but you ’re responding to your Facebook stake . But what I love about this [ immersive theater experience ] is that you really do disappear in a phantasy . You are amply immersed for two minute . You want to be present . "
That means cell phones ( and , really , any signified of your personal possession ) are literally taken away at the outset of the show , you ’ll belike be split up from the people you come in with – and the full commitment to that personal experience is key for both the performers and the attendees .
A tour can only give a hint of what to expect from the show : even in the brightness level , hallways like this one have a bit of freak - show collection – but at dark , in the dark , they can serve as confusing and dread halls , with participants occasionally forced to bear hoods over their heads and smack odd smell and taste odd flavors for a straight multi - sensory experience . histrion often give option to participants – and calculate on your answer , you may end up anywhere from …
Dustin Downing/Thrillist
… a tiny box of a way surrounded by inactive - blaring TVs to …
… a classroom full of walls with the rantings of a madperson ( Anoch ? Who ’s that ? mayhap someone important ? ) …
… to an interview room that ’s starkly – alarmingly – all white .
Dustin Downing/Thrillist
In fact , the compound theTension Experienceis in has dozens of rooms – each equipped with a camera , and each of which is being watched as participants are led through experience that veer from existential dilemmas ( " what ’s the meaning of life ? " ) to horrific experiences ( " is that guy that was just shot … dead ? " ) The conductor and writers are following along the whole time because the timing is essential : if any of the XII of worker ( many of whom fill intimate horror tropes , like wise - or - is - he?-old - Isle of Man and stringy - hairy Jesus figure ) are late to their pool cue , it can literally have the integral experience off row .
In that respect , Tensionis nothing like traditional horror maze : there are no monsters jumping out in rubber masks , and it ’s not as surreal or torture - atomic number 39 as some recent additions to the LA nightmare - flower stalk , likeBlackout . “There ’s nothing really scary , " says Bousman . " That ’s not what this is . It necessitate you to be present , it take you to tread outside your comfort geographical zone . It want you to do things you might not normally do . "
It ’s also the first pace in a multi - prongy plan – what they ’re callingTension Experience : Ascensionis the squad ’s first show , but they ’re talking about making it into a film , follow by a continuation show , if it ’s successful . And , from the amount of charge they ’ve put into it – and the securities industry they ’re grabbing a footing in – it ’s clear that they have cause to be confident it will be .
Dustin Downing/Thrillist
" [ LA does n’t ] have theater of operations the way New York City has Broadway or Off Broadway or Off Off Off Broadway , " says Bijelonic . " Now that you have all these veteran [ immersive theatre appearance ] that have paved the road here in LA – being [ early adopters]Delusion , beingBlackout , beingAlone , there ’s definitely a post for it , for theater goers . For someone who wants to live it and breathe it and participate . And that ’s what I regain fascinating . "
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Dustin Downing/Thrillist
Dustin Downing/Thrillist
Dustin Downing/Thrillist
