Disclosure: The Last Five Years publicity manager and producer KJ Knies is a contributor to No Proscenium. He has not had editorial input, nor has he been privy to the contents of this review before publication.
Quite often, we here at NoPro encounter a show that lies just on the edges of the Immersive Shore. Most of these shows play in the shallows next to cabaret staging, in-the-“surround” staging, or musicals/concerts using moving platforms and thrust stages. As a rule, we don’t normally cover these shows, unless there’s a compelling reason, something that brings it well onto our experiential beach, a show that clearly knows the difference between cabaret and Immersive. The Last Five Years: A Multisensory Experience is one of these compelling exceptions.
Conceived by the After Hours Theatre Company, the same team that brought to life the immersive production of One Flew Over The Cuckcoo’s Nest, The Last Five Years: A Multisensory Experience makes a conscious effort to get almost as far away as one can get from a large scale interactive experience: a stripped down contemporary musical with no cast interaction, a clearly “framed” narrative, and a bare bones interactive pre-show. On the surface it would be easy to lump this production of The Last Five Years in the category of “traditional style” shows with either non-traditional staging or some sort of pseudo-interactive moment tacked on as an afterthought; thus armed, they often bill themselves as “Immersive.”
The Last Five Years: A Multisensory Experience is a show that has gone out of its way to have a toe in immersive waters, while keeping itself rooted in a straight forward (and excellent) re-working of the off-Broadway musical done in a familiar theatre-in-the-round style. And this production has taken it a step further, creating a sort of interactive sensory tasting menu that has been well thought out and made to be an explicit part of the performance and not just an adjunct.
Upon arrival, I’m invited to explore the austere set, and to inspect a series of stations prior to taking my reserved seat for the “Full Sensory Package.” Arranged around the doughnut shaped stage, the five stations offer different sense based micro-interactions that tie into the show in various ways some thematically (a “Make A Memory” station involving cameras, and a unique, literally sweet way of passing love notes), as well as more concrete. The cornerstone of these is a tactile memory box filled with different textured and scented objects, love notes and favors, which acts as a mini-environmental immersive experience on its own.
The lights dim, the small orchestra begins to play and we’re handed the first of four curated drinks that coincide with different moments in the show. It’s a light, bubbly, citrusy thing that’s simultaneously sweet and sour. The tasting sized cocktails are served alongside certain songs of the show, and they all have a duality to them; a version of bitter and sweet, sweet and savory or smooth with a sharp after bite — a theme throughout the show itself.
Originally penned and composed for the stage by Jason Robert Brown (and later turned into a movie), The Last Five Years is the story Cathy and Jamie, a struggling actress and a rising novelist (performed with flawless passion by Janel Parrish and Scott Porter). They meet, fall in love, and eventually stumble into the end of their marriage. The tale is told from the couple’s two points of view, mostly through song and monologue.
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The magic of The Last Five Years is that it plays with our sense of time and place. Cathy’s story is told in reverse starting from the end of their relationship, while Jamie’s side is told in chronological order from them starting to date at the rise of his career. The two characters exist in their own worlds — only converging briefly in the middle of the show, as he goes on towards the end of their relationship and her to their bright beginning giving the whole show a bittersweet feel.
At key points, the audience is treated to subtle scents that tie in to characters and events. There’s a smell for Cathy, one for Jamie, and still others signifying the temptation and anger that flows into their relationship. The smells flow into the course of the show so lightly that it touches on an almost emotional, intuitive level — like its own ghostly character making entrances and exits like the other two cast members.
Smell is one of strongest memory triggers. Through the use of scents, The Last Five Years: A Multisensory Experience creates an interactive show, even if on a passive level. By bringing in specific smells both during the pre-show experience and then echoing some (if not all of them) throughout the course of the musical, it creates both a sense of immediate familiarity and memory: We’ve smelled this before, been in this situation before, been to this location; held this item.
The curated cocktail taster menu (designed by Spirit Guides) kicks this sensory journey up another level. The aforementioned duality of tastes play with the palate and echo and reinforce the moments of the show where they’re served; some drinks play heavily with texture and smell, most notably two mid-show drinks themed around Christmas and temptation.
The downside to the drink service is all the business of trading out your finished cups and getting your next drink. While the show has clearly done its best to time service to be unobtrusive, it sometimes distracts from the magic of the moment; also, if you sip too quickly, you’re stuck holding a little plastic cup for the next twenty minutes. Ironically, the service issues would be less distracting in a more immersive or site specific setting rather than the circle in the round seating style.
Ultimately, I have to ask “Why not do this as a more immersive production?” The best answer I have is: in order to experiment with what an open frame theatre experience is. It should be more than just putting our feet on the same floor with the action and staring into the eyes of an actor giving a monologue. This production acts as a reminder, that physical narrative can take place on multiple levels, including taste and smell.
While not an immersive show, outright, The Last Five Years: A Multisensory Experience is an immersive appetizer for the uninitiated and a sorbet for the connoisseur. Like a good tasting meal, you’re left wanting more, the literal smell of a fine time hanging about you.
The Last Five Years: A Multisensory Experience runs Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays through thought July 14 at The Actors Company — The Other Space 916 North Formosa Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90046. Tickets cost $75.00 for general admission; $125 for the full multisensory experience, including in-show cocktails, and can be purchased here.
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