Over the past few years L.A.’s Last Call Theatre has built up their audience by through a unique style rooted in mixing elements of LARP, massive multiplayer online games, and theatre. This has involved works across a breadth of genres, with the company in the past two years using genre to explore dramatic and fantastical ideas alike, from stories set in an America even further down the path of being a fascist state, to a remount of their popular pirate adventure.

Their next work is stepping back into the comedic mode with the political satire/workplace comedy Debate Night, which marks the company’s 13th production in four years.

The project is currently funding for a November run in the “Teapot” at Burbank’s Geeky Tea’s & Games, and we checked in with Director & Creative Lead Alex Borja, and Last Call Executive Director Ashley Busenlener, on the details of the new show and the campaign to get it off the ground.

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NO PROSCENIUM: Tell us a little bit about this planned experience. What’s it about? What makes it immersive?


Alex Borja: For our fall show, Last Call Theatre is helping produce my pitch of Debate Night as their newest immersive interactive play! This time, audiences are welcomed into the campaign office of a presidential campaign for a senator running for the nomination of the Dignity Party (a fictional political party, in a fictionalized version of American politics). 

Audiences are dropped into the world of the show as volunteers for the campaign, directly assisting campaign staff as they put the finishing touches on the senator's debate prep before she takes the stage at the big primary debate. It's up to audience members to help the staffers navigate the most pressing political issues of this world; revitalizing America's airports, negotiating imports on tomatoes from Mexico, and once and for all ending the presidential fitness test. We are once again performing in Last Call Theatre's signature immersive-interactive quest format, where audience members interact directly with the characters and influence the decisions they make.

Members of the cast & team look on during designer presentations. (Photo credit: Ashley Busenlener)

NP: What is the inspiration for your upcoming experience? 


Alex: Debate Night is both a political satire as well as a workplace comedy. I was inspired by all of the playful character dynamics present in some of our favorite comedies with ambitious women leads; VEEP, Parks and Recreation, and 30 Rock. I am also constantly inspired by alternate-world American political systems like those in VEEP and Robert Altman's Nashville. It has been so much fun playing around with the creation of these new political parties and trying to think outside the box on what they stand for and prioritize. Audiences should not come into our experience expecting a one-to-one rehash of today's news. The world of Debate Night is completely its own, but still with much to say about how we look at our world.

NP: What do you think fans of immersive will find most interesting about this upcoming experience?

Alex: I think audience members will really be taken in by how much their choices affect the show as it goes on! As they assist the campaign staffers, the decisions they make may directly influence the performance of the senator in the debate later on. Think like a veteran political operative, and you may just propel the senator to victory in her party's primary- or see her political ambitions crash and burn. 

Some of the cast & creative team at the first rehearsal for Debate Night! (Photo credit: Ashley Busenlener)

NP: Have you crowdfunded before? If so, is there anything different about your experience (or expectations) this time? 


Ashley Busenlener: Yes, we have! With the absence of a main financial backer or sponsor, Last Call is dependent on crowdfunding and donations from those who want to help bring our creative ideas to life. We recently switched to the platform Fractured Atlas, which focuses on artists and their creative projects, and has the great perk of making all donations tax-deductible. It also allowed us to reach a larger pool of donors for our last show, and we expect that to be the case with Debate Night as well. 

NP: What are some of the perks on offer for backers?


Ashley: Unlike previous Last Call shows, Debate Night has a multimedia element to it, which allows for a bit of a unique, higher-level perk. There will be filmed portions of the show, which will play at various times throughout, and if you happen to be one of our “Dignity SuperPAC” backers, you will be mentioned in one of those videos. Everyone loves an easter egg, so one of the mid-tier perks is having your name mentioned in a show prop. And then, of course, at a lower level you can receive an “I Voted” sticker in the world of the show’s “Dignity Party.” We are hoping these are fun incentives for people to donate and become part of the world of Debate Night!

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