A letter to the creators, the talent, everyone involved – Thanks.

[Addison BornParticipant]

Heads up, there are a couple spoilers here, at least of what happened during my experience. I’m not sure whats unique to me and what you may encounter should you venture into the OOA’s chambers a second time. If you’ve never been through Ascension, please, please do not read this. If you haven’t been through a second time and want to go in completely blind, as you should.. reading this would be a complete disservice to yourself. What began as this little black and red website with puzzles and riddle, and then blew up into a manifestation of change and love and darkness, it has reshaped me as a person. I know it’s changed many of you. Tension, I love you.

To The Tension Experience,

I’ve been struggling to find the right words to thank you. I don’t know how. You’ve impacted my life for most of this year, and have given me a debt I can never repay.

This year has been extremely difficult for me in many ways, and you helped me through it. I cannot remember how I came across Tension in February or March or sometime back then. I’ve tried going back and figuring it out but it’s like you appeared in my life when I needed you most. I feel like that’s fitting, all things considered.

Tension got me through endless late night and tough days of work. Tension got me through a particularly rough anniversary of my best friend’s passing. Tension got me through the stresses of wedding planning. Tension has challenged me, inspired me, destroyed and rebuilt me. You have given me friends I plan on keeping my entire life. You have reinvigorated my love for immersive theater and given me passion. You’ve inspired me to be more open about my emotions. You’ve given me a new critical lens through which to view the world.

These last 7-8 months have been a ride. Saturday was the cherry on top. I really do not want to sound like I can’t separate reality from fiction, but once I entered your doors, *everything* was real. The emotions, the conversations, everything.

Earlier in the evening, Rizzo and I were eating tacos and talking about Addison’s journal in the parking lot with one of Rizzo’s friends and the woman with whom I would later spend time with, attempting to console her during a particularly difficult time later that night. Rizzo and I laughed as the van pulled up and the other attendees nervously shuffled backwards. We had goals for the evening, we were veterans at this, let’s get in there and get to the bottom of it all. Let’s really reach out and find where the walls are here. I was last in the van, so I knew I was first to enter. I absolutely knew that I was ready for whatever you threw at me.

Everything changed the moment that door opened. I was expecting the secretary to greet me, all chipper and excited for me to be reprocessed. Instead.. it was the attendant I had met during my last visit. The one that had stayed close to me and I to her, who treated me with compassion, who I refused to break eye contact with during the ceremony, who I willed with every fiber of my being to walk away, to not complete the ritual. I cared for her and it hurt me to leave her for whatever punishment she would endure after the failed ceremony.

When she threw her arms around me and whispered how happy she was that I had returned, every plan I had for that night went out the window. As she appeared to me throughout the night, her desperation became clear. When I spoke to Simon, he was not a drill sergeant “character” who there to break me, but a person, full of life and compassion – we cracked jokes and shared thoughts about meaning and alliances and perspectives that stretched far beyond the OOA, and that opened everything up. I don’t even know where to start with Addison (and yes, she’ll always be Addy to me). She is pure, raw power.

It wasn’t a trip to an immersive show, where I had to suspend disbelief and generate emotion for the show to move forward, but then again, it’s never been with you. Every emotion leading up to and including Saturday was real, and everything I did and said was fueled by those emotions. I lost myself within your walls.

Friends from out of town living these experiences vicariously through me have already asked how my second trip was – they’ve heard stories from my more extreme experiences, and knew I was excited to go back to Tension more than anything. I cannot even begin to explain it, partly because of how personal it was, partly because of how masterfully dense my experience has been. It was three hours of bargaining. Of negotiating a life or death situation with someone who has now been firmly rooted in my mind as an old friend. A night of heartbreak. A night of Tension. I’m still unpacking every moment, every interaction, every answer I gave, turning it over and around in my head, constantly finding new meaning and new theories.

You’ve changed my life. Thank you for letting me live in your world.

• This topic was modified 8 years, 1 month ago by  Addison Born.

[AH-layParticipant]

I cheated and I read this, but think your words are very very wonderful ❤️❤️❤️

[111_errorParticipant]

I’d like to think that people involved in creating Tension for us (including actors and actresses) read posts like this, then start biting a corner of their bottom lip and feeling unsure of how all this happened. Then they nervously fill their wine glass one more time and … well I might be thinking this through a bit more than necessary.

I love what you wrote, I concur, and I can’t wait until our phones start ringing again.

[Andrew KaschParticipant]

I have spoken at length about and to the creators about how much I love what they’ve done. Tension has made the last ten months of my life ridiculously exciting and opened up a lot for me personally. I’ve made new friends and shared in an unforgettable journey, and even discovered things about myself. It’s a ride I don’t want to end.

One thing I really have to give props to is this cast. Their skill and dedication is beyond anything I’ve ever seen in the entertainment industry. Not only are each and every one of them terrific performers, but what blows me away is how invested they are. Somehow they know and keep track of not only this incredibly dense mythology, but us as individuals. Some of them even know what we’ve done and what our relationships are like with other members of the community. I can go into the OOA Institute and talk to anybody there about anything that’s transpired, and they’re completely in the know. Not a false note from anyone. That’s some Herculean shit right there.

[LetitRainParticipant]

It’s super nice to hear the two sides of it:
1) there are experiences/theater/art pieces that go the extra mile to really create and connect with a community. That is just super cool.
2) Also, there are people willing to give themselves up to a community and dive in head-first… It seems as this is sometimes the harder part to achieve, no?

Anyways, I’m just an outsider looking in, but pat yourselves on the backs as well for keeping this thing alive and going “full-tension”, or whatever you wanna call it. =)

To me, it’s like following a novel that is being written while I watch. Even better than House of Leaves. =)

Keep on keeping on!

[AmieParticipant]

I’m skipping over a lot of posts to try to avoid spoilers as well as the whole Spoiler thread right now but just going off of my first visit…some of the interactions (all of them??) I had were very moving and everyone did such an amazing job. I almost cried in the Social area listening to one of the Handler’s stories and when I asked if I could hug her everything about that moment felt like I was consoling someone that very much needed it. From the @creator’s to the actors to everyone in-between, just an amazing experience. Reprocessing is coming and I’m ready.

[Author]

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