After a successful run this past Spring, After Hours Theatre Company has brought back Dark Library: The Time Machine, the latest in their series of literary mash-up shows that blend light-touch immersive, musicals, and cocktails into an evening filled with surprises.
The Time Machine brings a number of H.G. Wells’ most famous characters under one roof for a pressure cooker of a night that turns After Hours’ North Hollywood space into both Victorian drawing room and the titular “vehicle” itself.
We checked in with After Hours Theatre Company Artistic Director Graham Wetterhahn about the current run of the show that currently runs through Nov. 8th.
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NO PROSCENIUM: Tell us a little bit about your experience! What’s it about? What makes it immersive?
Graham Wetterhahn: Dark Library: The Time Machine is the third installment in After Hours Theatre Company’s Dark Library series. This immersive theatrical experience is set in a Victorian-Era HG Wells “multiverse” featuring characters, narratives, and themes from: The Time Machine, War Of The Worlds, The Island Of Doctor Moreau, The Invisible Man, and Ann Veronica.
It’s 1894 in southwest London and you are a member of The Royal Society for Improving Natural Knowledge (the oldest continuously existing scientific academy, made up of the greatest minds in the world) attending a cocktail party hosted at the home of Edward Turner, the society’s youngest and most promising member. Once there, Turner showcases his latest invention and sets into motion a sequence of events that threatens not only the lives of his guests, but the very fate of all mankind.
NP: What was the inspiration for your upcoming experience?
GW: After the success of the previous Dark Library installments (Edgar Allan Poe and Paris 1925), we were anxious to find another literary-inspired subject that would push the boundaries of what our company could do. Big swings that frankly made us uncomfortable because we weren’t sure how or IF we could accomplish them. Pretty quickly, HG Wells’ The Time Machine came to mind. Blaise Hemingway (who wrote Paris 1925) wondered if The Time Machine could create a narrative spine that could incorporate all (or at least a lot) of HG Wells’ canon. That script was then brought to the After Hours creative team leads as well as some new collaborators that we’d never worked with before to ensure that the production could stand up to the demands of the material.
Every new show (and every iteration of each show) is a little leap of faith that we collectively take as a company in the same way that every performance is a leap of faith that we take with our audiences, hoping that they will surrender to the experience and contribute right along with our players and technical crew. It’s terrifying and wonderful every time. This show in particular we pushed ourselves technically and added a number of themed entertainment veterans to help us with special effects, as well as an illusion designer who’s working overtime for this remount!
NP: What do you think fans of immersive will find most interesting about this latest experience?
GW: I think the best part of the Dark Library series as a whole is that they’re shows that immersive fans can bring their “immersive-curious” or even “immersive-resistant” friends and family to - and everyone can have a great time.
With The Time Machine, we have a pre-show filled with puzzles, a secret quest, and plenty of opportunities to engage with the actors and environment. But all of that is completely optional. If you just want to sit down, have a cocktail, and enjoy the vibes until the show starts, that’s great too! We think about our audience in terms of “Waders, Swimmers, and Divers” — people who want different levels of engagement — and we try to make sure there’s something satisfying for all of them.
This is definitely our most interactive Dark Library yet, particularly in the pre-show and environmental storytelling. And the big change with this edition is that we’ve added a ton of new illusions and special effects.
But at its heart, it’s still classic literature, a fun adventure, and good drinks. So there’s something in it for everyone — whether you’re a high school student, a grandparent, or an immersive super fan.
NP: Once you started designing and testing what did you discover about this experience that was unexpected?
GW: This is our third unique show in the Dark Library series and our fifth run of Dark Library productions in general. We have nearly 150 performances under our belts in this series and in our venue, and by the end of this run we’ll have done around 75 performances of The Time Machine alone.
And yet, with all of that experience, we’re constantly learning and iterating. If you come to the first or second weekend of one of our shows and come back toward the end of the run, there will usually be substantial changes. We think of these as living pieces that we hope will have a long life beyond the current run, so we’re always looking for ways to make them better. It’s constantly having honest conversations with ourselves like: “That piece of choreography isn’t landing. That scene is confusing and needs clarifying. That drink pass is clunky. That puzzle is too hard and unmotivated.”
With the first run of The Time Machine, we were surprised by just how much the audience responded to the handful of illusions and practical effects we had built into the show. That really informed this new version. We realized there was an opportunity to lean much further into that side of the experience, so this time we’ve substantially expanded the illusions and effects while also refining the rest of the show around them.
NP: What can fans who are coming to this, or thinking about coming to this, do to get into the mood of the experience?
GW: It’s undeniable that H.G. Wells is a master at high concept. His prose however? Less interesting and dynamic than you’d expect. Fortunately, the novels are short and chalk full of ideas that keep your mind busy. But if reading is not your thing, there are dozens of film adaptations of his works.
Dark Library: The Time Machine, runs Oct. 9 - Nov. 8, 2026 at After Hours Theatre Company's North Hollywood space; tickets are $45-119.
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