Forces Of Nature’s Fallen Saints: Dia De Los Muertos is a labor of love; a beautiful show about what lies in the dark corners, beyond the veil, and the consequences of love taken to an extreme. It is a celebration of Mexican Culture — the richness of its traditions; and the depths of its folklore — filled with light, music, and a dark undercurrent. Fallen Saints: Dia De Los Muertos is all this and more; what Fallen Saints: Dia De Los Muertos isn’t, is an immersive piece.

As the audience gathered on the sidewalk in front of the venue, the show separated us into various groups representing different families paying homage to their ancestors. After some nervous chatter among our group, we were handed a basket of Ofrendas and ushered through the front doors. We walked through a convincingly decorated cemetery set, and into a minimalist space where we found our loved ones in tableau on pedestals and a central altar, anchored by a realistic mausoleum arch at the back of the room. After walking through such a lush set in the foyer, I was mildly disappointed to find the space so sparse.

We were instructed to gather near our ancestor and find a seat on the floor; I glanced around the room and saw folks on the opposite side of the room taking spots on benches and chairs. I made myself comfortable and readied myself to move when the moment came. That moment never really arrived.

A guitar strumming Storyteller (Tom Jones) entreated our family’s representative to present an offering to our ancestor, and then launched into a tale of darkness and light. He introduced us to the dead, and as the music began to play in earnest, the dead dutifully awoke from their slumber and began to tell us their stories.

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We met spirited dancer Gabriella (Anna Arreguin), rich and handsome Miguel (Brian Larios), musician Antonio (Michael Guthrie), joy-filled toymaker Peppy (played with scene-stealing alacrity by Gloria Galvan) and lovelorn and mysterious Maria (Stephanie Rojo). The characters wove their tales, occasionally addressing the audience, but never brought the action out into the audience, nor did they really bring the audience into the world that they inhabited.

During the course of the 40-minute play, we clapped and sang; there was a brief call to action that felt more like an afterthought than a fully realized moment in the show. While I applaud improvising and weaving new things into a production, the preview performance I saw felt more like a theater-in-the-round production where the creators were workshopping additional interactive elements rather than the immersive haunt event I was expecting. I heard more than one whisper of “Is there a maze after this?” from members of my so-called family.

Although the amazing lighting and sound design (by Cara Vilencia and Noelle Hoffman) and original music (composed by Guthrie, pulling double duty) compliment the emotionally charged performances elevating this production to a lavish level of creepiness and unease, I wish the show found a way to draw the audience into the space physically; or simply created a way for us to not passively observe from the safety of our seats.

Fallen Saints: Dia De Los Muertos failed at expectation management. For a show to call itself an “immersive experience,” and then not deliver on that promise does its audience a disservice — no matter how evocative or impactful the performance — and this show was evocative and impactful horror, arguably at its best. Fallen Saints missed a number of opportunities to raise its immersive bar substantially by perhaps staging the show at an actual cemetery or other site specific venue, or allowing the audience to have any agency at all.

Co-Creators Sebastian Munoz (Wicked Lit 2017) and Andy Shultz have penned a truly haunting fairy tale around a small village’s Day of The Dead Celebration. While their tale is expertly spun, the show misses the immersion bar enough that it becomes a distraction. I kept wondering when the show would change gears, we would all stand, and the real “meal” of the show would begin. I spent much of the show wondering this — instead of fully connecting with the beautiful piece of traditional theatre I was offered.

Fallen Saints: Dia De Los Muertos continues through October 28, with show at 8pm, 9pm and 10pm at 1001 W Olive Ave., Burbank. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased online.

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