As Sharon Savene slipped a blindfold over my eyes I realized how easy it would be to wipe out Los Angeles’s immersive theatre and haunt press corps.
After all, I had just signed a release that said that I didn’t hold Shine On Collective, the producer’s of Devoted: Forever, responsible for anything that went wrong. I did this while seated in the passenger seat of a car. Moments before I had been standing in a Vons parking lot on the west side of LA, and then Savene and her fellow actor Eric Vallante had emerged from a small four door car.
They were a well-dressed, if out of place, couple who looked to be on the back end of a date. A date night, to be specific. It didn’t totally shock me when they approached me, as they were uncannily out-of-place. The uncanniness continued as they asked me a series of questions about whether or not I was ready to meet Cara.
Here’s where things get interesting, and a little complex. You see Devoted: Forever is the third part of an ongoing series of immersive experiences developed by Shine On’s Marlee Delia, Trish DeLuca and Anna Mavromati. Delia directed this installment, Mavormati is the writer, and DeLuca plays Cara, a young woman who appears to be madly in love with the participant — in this case, me — emphasis on the “mad.”
I knew only a sketch of the overall frame, having missed the first two parts. What exactly my relationship to Cara was ended up, by default, being mine to define. (I’ll bring you up to speed on what it should have been a little later.)
From the way that Savene and Vallante questioned me, and the actions that they had me take as I stood in front of the Redbox, I imagined that any passerby might think I was being inducted into a cult. It certainly felt that way to me, as they asked me just how much I was devoted to Cara. There was something of the Old Ways to their words, and I found myself intrigued.
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Still, it’s spectacularly stupid to trust two strangers to drive you somewhere while you’re wearing a blindfold. As we sped down West side streets and audio lesson on some of the biochemical basis of attraction played over the car stereo. It was simultaneously soothing and suspicious. If nothing else Shine On really nailed an uncanny vibe. It’s a groove I dig, so that was what I needed to buy in for what was next.
when I finally arrived at the undisclosed location, I found myself in what appeared to be the front room of a duplex. a computer monitor was the main light in on that monitor I saw emails that have been written to me by Cara. a partially open desk drawer contained a photographs which had selected faces cut out from the image. I examined this for a moment, and then, unsure of what else to do — was this an Escape Room type scenario? — I stood up and prepared myself to start exploring the space.
Within a moment I became aware of a presence behind me: Cara.
She spoke to me for a moment in a breathy, disconnected voice. It meant so much to her that I was there. She led me back towards a darkened kitchen, and as she crossed the threshold… the lights came on. She was cooking us dinner. The nature of the conversation changed, but the tone held to a kind of floatiness. I wasn’t entirely sure how to respond to what Cara was setting up, so I fell back on the old improv “yes, and” tactics.
Devoted: Forever is at it’s slowest during the “date” scene, and that’s in part due to the always odd nature of interactive sequences when you’ve got no history with the character or performer. Those who had previously encountered Cara had a frame of reference for what was going on. Oddly, I think I would not have been as open to what was then about to transpire if I had the same framing. Cara, it turns out, is our stalker. Which is an odd set-up for something that otherwise feels like a kind of blind date.
After a disturbing revelation about the nature of dinner the piece kicks into high gear. The space transforms through some simple, clever techniques into Cara’s mindscape. Thematically we’re taken on a trip through the mind of a trauma survivor, and it’s realized with some smart use of repetition and kinetic staging from Delia. Mavromati’s script work here goes into some dark places, and best of all the moments feel earned.
As a whole Devoted: Forever works best in the immersive mode, and isn’t quite as strong in it’s interactive aspects. There’s no shame in this on Shine On’s part. Interaction is one of the hardest things to script for in these short bursts, and the story engages throughout thanks to a strong theatrical sense. The depths of Shine On’s craft is already accelerating in leaps and bounds when compared with their previous work at this year’s Hollywood Fringe (The Truth).
I’m already looking forward to my next meeting with Cara.
There are still tickets left for the next incarnation of Devoted, which begins on October 21st and runs through the 30th.
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