Here’s something I didn’t know before 444 Liberatio (“For Deliverance”):

Performing an unboxing video for one person can be extremely satisfying, and it’s something I’d gladly do again.

At least if the person in question was Exodus, aka Elisabeth Faye Stranathan in her latest angelic guise. Liberatio is a spiritual sequel to 444 Tempus Fugit, although there is no need to have experienced the first show. The only real benefit being that if you already have creative chemistry with Stranathan, you know that you want to experience Liberatio, even if you might balk at the price. Let’s get to that in a moment.

The charm of Liberatio lies in Stranathan’s skill as a performer at creating a comfortable space for letting your guard down, and in the way she approaches constructing a play space that feels like a little bubble reality all it’s own. In this case one that consists of a Zoom call and a series of small packages that are delivered a few days before said call.

The next section, after the picture of the closed lock, will contain spoilers, look for the picture of the open lock to jump past them.

The Liberatio experience begins with a questionnaire weeks before the event, which Stranathan uses to put together the package she sends. This lies in wait until the beginning of the show, which is framed as a podcast the cosmic entity Exodus has set up for their intergalactic audience, of which we are the guest star.

Exodus instructs us to open the package and inside there are a series of, well, presents.

Multiple presents. Most with a chain and a lock around them. She directs us via clue to the first of the packages, which contains what’s needed to open up the next one in sequence and so on. It is a simple mechanic, one that is less about the puzzling than about the answers and what is found. All of which are rooted in the questionnaire that was filled out weeks before.

Get Noah J Nelson’s stories in your inbox

Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.

SubscribeSubscribe

Because in this mystery box, the mystery is you.

Or at least the you that Stranathan perceives. There are tarot cards and countless pages ripped from books and magazines, highlighted with significant numbers and words. A tangible reflection of your soul as viewed by a fictional angel.

Exodus asks us to describe what we are discovering, and here is where I embraced my inner radio ham to full effect. Going over the packages in almost microscopic detail with my narration, spurred on by knowing that it was Stranathan who put this together and I was reflecting back her reflection of me. Her own delight evident as I picked through the packages and uncovered their secrets. A feedback loop of delight.

There were some disconnects, to be sure. I mistyped a number on the questionnaire that would come back around in the boxes, lessening the impact of discovery. So I’d offer this advice: be mindful of what you send in, because it will come back around.

My only real regret with regard to the experience is the world as a whole in which it takes place. Our world. A few minutes after leaving the session I was already wrapped back up in the turmoil of early January, with its shattering level of uncertainty in all things. What Stranathan had constructed for me would have in any other timeline left me with a glow for days.

Indeed if you wind up booking a session with Exodus I suggest clearing out some time on the back end to just unwind with the material — literal and figurative — so that the feeling can settle into your bones a little deeper.

The mechanics here may be simple, but the prices Stranathan pursues is an exemplar of user centered design. It’s not necessarily scalable in the sense of Stranathan herself making thousands upon thousands of boxes for others, but it is as a model for play. Indeed anyone could follow this formula, although their results might not be as delightful as what Stranathan manages to elicit.

Because the magic here lies not only in the method, but in the intent behind it. The artistic thought process that would lead a poet to want to construct a kind of exploded visual and verbal map of their muses’ soul. A muse who just so happens to be you.

444 Liberatio (“For Deliverance”) is currently scheudled to run through March 23rd. Tickets are $89.95.

Discover the latest immersive events, festivals, workshops, and more at our new site EVERYTHING IMMERSIVE, new home of NoPro’s show listings.

NoPro is a labor of love made possible by our generous Patreon backers. Join them today!

In addition to the No Proscenium web site, our podcast, and our newsletters, you can find NoPro on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, in the Facebook community Everything Immersive, and on our Slack forum.