The following is from our 2016 Fringe Diary, so the “last year” is a reference to the 2015 Fringe.

Last year writer-director Annie Lesser arrived on the scene with an unexpected surprise: Getting To Know You. A kind of theatrical musical chairs, the piece was designed to be narratively incomplete prompting the audience to compare notes if they wanted to get the whole story, but still provide an emotional arc for patrons.

A(partment 8) is something completely different.

Instead of a group experience this piece is strictly one on one. It’s short — only about ten minutes — and feels like a singular encounter from an extreme haunt, minus all the physical peril that fans of those experiences expect.

The tough thing here is that I don’t want to spoil the surprise, because I quite enjoyed this piece. So much so that I’m thinking about going back as a paying customer — tickets are $17, which is steep for a Fringe show but you are getting a one-on-one — and playing the scene differently.

The piece is emotionally interactive in that you are allowed to respond how you choose to the material that is presented to you, and those responses will color the actor’s performance — if not necessarily the text. The experience is something like acting out a scene with a partner where they know all their lines and you forgot to memorize yours. If you pay attention and don’t try to “drive the scene” — something my improv teachers scared out of me when I was 16 — it is possible to create a rather moving exprience out of some rather intense material.

So let’s post up the warnings: if you’re not comfortable with nudity (the actor’s, not yours), being blindfolded, touched, “mature themes,” and possibly getting wet/a bit messy then this is not for you.

If you dig the dark stuff, however, you need to get yourself a ticket before this thing sells out. Because we are going to sell it out.

Annie Lesser has a small wonder on her hands, and actress Keight Leighn pretty much defines the term fearless at this point. Lesser is positioning this as part of a series of immersive shorts she’s calling the ABC project: the goal is to make 26 of them. Ambitious, but if she can keep close to this level of work it will be well worth it.

Details:

Where: near Fringe Central
PRICE: $17
DATES: June 5–23
RUN TIME: $10
Tag: #immersive, #one-on-one, #contentadvisory, #nudity, #21+



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