This week we're in L.A. and London for three very different experiences – a satirical political immersive play, an environmental themed installation, and a haunt not quite up to snuff.
Yeah, I couldn't find a clever headline and I think I've used "eclectic trio" before.
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Debate Night (Los Angeles)
Last Call Theatre Company
$65-80, Teapot Room @ Geeky Teas & Games, Nov. 3 - 21
It’s 90 minutes before the final debate in the Dignity Party’s Presidential Primary and Senator Melanie Schubert’s campaign is in shambles.
The campaign manager is on the verge of panic, the comms director is a Gen Z influencer, the top surrogate might be living in the supply closet, and something is up between the speechwriter and the embedded reporter who was dispatched from D.C. and just happens to be college friends with the policy director. But hey, at least the candidate’s husband has snacks!
This is the latest from Last Call, whose signature style I’ve often described as “living MMORPG” (that’s Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game) wherein audience members zip around a space, checking in with actors turned quest givers which leads to talking to other actors turned quest givers and on and on.
This time out the gang leans into a soap opera dynamic, with the politicking and secret agendas being there but taking a backseat to the relationships of the characters, playing to the strengths of Last Call’s improvisational cast.
While I have issues with how we were onboarded into the story — it pretty much came down to making an arbitrary choice, which in my case defaulted into which character I was standing closest to — and how a story turning point may have been a red herring path, I couldn’t help but be charmed by the cast and the general goofiness of the satire.
And to be sure this is a satire, with some fairly ridiculous (laudatory) elements thrown in to take us away from any real world political elements that could very well be too heavy. Indeed as Debate Night sat on my calendar for after the mid-term elections, I was somewhat dreading going until the elections themselves had passed when I found my faith in the electorate somewhat restored. (Only somewhat, mind you.) It was something of a risk to be staging a political satire in the midst of one of the ugliest national campaign seasons we’ve had in a string of ugly campaigns.
Let’s go back to that “red herring path” for a moment, as I’m still not sure if it was just that. Without spoiling details, at about the midpoint were given a plot drop that logically implies that someone is working against the interests of the campaign. So my ad hoc cadre zeroed in on that, and followed the line to… not much effect. Even being told that the issue had effectively been resolved “off screen.” I’m still not sure if I believe that, but given the limited time there is to solve anything the sequence was unsatisfying.
Luckily the ending, wherein we get to watch the debate itself, had enough story highs and lows to get me back into the story. Indeed I was probably the audience member most amped about what was taking place on screen. That’s likely downstream of my true political junkie/ex-public media reporter status: I’ve been part of the coverage team of two nominating conventions and follow campaigns closer than it is healthy. In that respect the “debate watch party” section of the show was rather cathartic, which is something I wasn’t really expecting going in.
All in all, this is my favorite of the Last Call shows that I’ve been apart of. The soap operatic lean is definitely a strength for the company, and their audience management skills have leveled up enough that they were able to manage a pack of pre-teens that some parents had brought. I’m still looking for them to square the circle on plot — either by devising clockwork mysteries or by abandoning pre-determined objectives altogether and letting the roleplaying side of things take the reigns.
Much like the American electorate, I have some faith they’ll get there.
– Noah J. Nelson, Publisher
SPORE (London)
CoLab
£38.50; CoLab; Oct. 20 - Nov. 8
An old dental school in Central London. A sentient fungus is spreading, raising the sightless dead who roam the dark corridors. One hour until the military firebomb the contagion and wipe us from the map.
The strength of the show comes from ventures into the darkness finding spore samples to be analysed. Armed only with a torch, timer and small bell (to distract zombies) we sneak through dark stairways and halls, trying to be as silent as possible. This is genuinely scary and tense, holding our breath in ramshackle rooms while the zombie searches for us.
Unfortunately my group only searches once. One of my associates is frustrated by being pulled from “fun missions” to be given work, like drawing pictures and reading files, that ultimately will not contribute to the show. Working on this experimental plot strand in a closed room we miss the major plot and are not told about the scoring system, which we have to suppose alters the ending.
There is a disappointing inconsistency of tone in the attitude during the performance (one ‘scientist’ even has their shirt open to the belt and a louche attitude). Performers’ approaches do not always mesh with their character’s goals and the threat and there is liberal use of sexual references and the C word; if you don't care, why should we?
Uncontrolled audience members affect the experience, putting props in their mouths and posing for photoshoots (despite being asked to put phones in security pouches).
This show lacks cohesion, relies on AI, and is below the standard of performance I expect from this talented company. A clear way of collaboration is needed and chances to state if one wants roles hunting specimens or researching.
‘Spore’, while atmospheric, has too many ideas and insufficient time to express them.
— Thomas Jancis, London Correspondent
Tears of Nature ( Los Angeles, CA)
Juan Manuel Ramal
$25 - $30, 3841 Broadway Place, Nov. 1 -29
Our modern world assaults us with sound and light through media infused urban ecosystems. Those ecosystems imbue us with disconnection and ennui so disparate from how we came into being. What if we could return to nature to reflect upon the quiet that we have lost, both sonically and visually. That represents the core thesis behind Juan Manuel Ramal’s downtown installation Tears of Nature, now playing through the end of November.
Encompassing four rooms in a warehouse space south of Downtown Los Angeles, Tears of Nature paradoxically utilizes projection and sound to take viewers from a state of media saturation through darkness and silence eventually towards light and celebration. The three main rooms taking us on this journey feature sculptures surrounded by projections of tropical rainforests evoking a sense of calm and introspection, with a human shaped statue standing sentinel over the space. Each space evokes a sense of tranquility despite the abundance of detail within it.
Despite the intended calm that the Tears of Nature evokes, it feels somewhat incomplete. The warehouse that holds the installation is only about 8000 square feet, so the environments are modestly sized, and the artist described this as a proof of concept. If this were to have more active moments of sound, video, performance or lighting, there could be a better sense of flow through the piece, as it stands, little direction exists so patrons can blitz through the rooms and be done in fifteen minutes.
If Tears of Nature indeed represents a first step, then there’s much in it to be lauded and encouraged. I will always be a sucker for a well crafted environment, even if it has a modest scope. But if the goal is a more elaborate performance, then seeing it in it’s current state would be a little premature. As lovely as the environments are, you can feel the desire for more around every corner. Hopefully Juan Manuel Ramal can figure out how to take the next step.
– Martin Gimenez, Correspondent at Large
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