No Proscenium article (no spoilers)

[Kimberly @ElectricHippoParticipant]

No Proscenium’s Noah Nelson offers a very different approach to reviewing Ascension than the haunt-centered publications have provided thus far. Here we have a constructive breakdown of what works and what needs a bit of fine tuning from the perspective of an immersive theater enthusiast. He doesn’t come across as negative. If anything his mild criticisms are constructive and the overall vibe is extremely optimistic.

There was one thing Noah said that made me internally scream YESSSSS! … The author (jokingly) suggests that patrons would pay a generous fee for a behind the scenes tour that allows them to watch the OOA run it’s latest batch of candidates through their trials. I would most definitely pay for this. Not a single doubt in my mind. Please? Seriously… Please! @thecreator @gatekeeper3

No Proscenium Article

[RustyParticipant]

@electrichippo I completely agree, a behind the scenes tour would be thrilling… even if it might destroy some of the illusion behind this really cool thing I enjoyed so much. (Delusion offered something like this several years ago and it was absolutely thrilling to experience.)

The No Proscenium review is excellent, I feel. I have made it quite clear to everyone I can that I personally feel that Ascension is not just a thrilling ride and theater piece, but an important one for Los Angeles. The elements that Noah Nelson points to and criticizes are, in my opinion, absolutely valid and I agree with him on many levels. We know the show is being altered during the run (all shows are) and I feel it will improve with experience as more groups go through and reactions are gathered. I see the review as positive, also, and I am still looking forward to a return trip to Ascension… when I can figure out my schedule to make that work out!

[LivParticipant]

This article brings up something I’ve been wondering about since going through Ascension. Does anyone know to what extent you can disobey orders? I was rather compliant when going through, however one of my friends was told not to do something by one character and later tried not to do it and was told they would be removed from the experience if they didn’t, so he did as he was told. Was anyone able to push that boundary and still continue? I realize the answer to that would probably be a spoiler, so feel free to pm me if you happen to know ^_^!

[DanParticipant]

Great question! I too would like to know.

[Anonymous]

I had a conversation that specifically led me to believe that I might NOT get thrown out if I had refused to do one specific thing (this one thing is a thing that would keep me from going twice, if it was required). If this is the case, then I have misjudged the whole experience. If I was still in Los Angeles I would gladly go a second time just to test this, but given that another conversation with the writer of this article later the same day gave me conflicting information…proceed at your own risk.

[LivParticipant]

Oh that’s very interesting! Man, I can’t wait to hear everyone’s experiences after this is over. Thank you, I’ll take that advice into consideration if I go back.

[Anonymous]

If it extends PAST THIS SEMESTER and I’m feeling particularly…careless with the money one night, which has been known to happen – A LOT – I might find myself back there, going a few times, testing this out. One of the things that Noah (No Proscenium) and I have discussed at length re: Ascension is the game mechanics of it. Because we are huge nerds and we see way too much immersive theatre to remain healthy.

I wrote two pieces for Howlround about Tension, one already was published, the other I turned in this past weekend…I actually turned in two pieces and said “run whichever one you feel is more appropriate.” But, I had SERIOUS word count limits on both, and when it comes to this particular subject I could have gone on for the full 1000 words on that alone. If nothing else explains how my brain works, it’s this: my brain has been circling obsessively around how the game mechanics of Tension WORK, from what little I know of it. I will shut up, because I have a light plot due, and I can totally get sidetracked on this for the entire afternoon because game mechanics in immersive theatre is my thing…………..

[PuppetGirlParticipant]

Honestly I was really unclear about boundaries and options during the experience. I tend to be pretty compliant anyway, but I never thought I had the option not to be. I thought there would be clear “choices” but I never felt there were. I don’t know that I ever consciously made a choice during my experience except whether to tell the truth or lie when questioned by characters and the person I chose when prompted at one point…neither of which seemed to affect anything. Otherwise I just felt like I was moving through the experience with characters leading me in directions not due to anything I had done.

Did anyone else feel this way? Feel the opposite? I’d love to hear.

Also on another note: Now having done such an interactive experience I have a hard time with regular walk through haunts. On three different occasions since Ascension I have been in a walk through haunt where a character asked me “do you want to play a game?” and I’ve said yes and they just walked away from me disappointing me when they didn’t follow through with a game or even a real reaction.

[Anonymous]

No, I feel exactly the same. I have had several people approach me about my experience so I know that it’s not a secret that I was frustrated. To be honest, I really want to go back, because I’m not sure that my frustrations with it had anything to do with IT – I think they had everything to do with me & my expectations & the fact that what is outside the comfort zone for most people is just not outside mine at all.

There came a point in the experience when I gave up. I feel kind of ashamed admitting this, because I went in wanting to fully, 100% engage it. At some point, I felt like I was put “on rails” and that was it, and nothing I did was going to make any difference. Now, I’m not so sure, and I’m really curious as to whether I have misjudged that. Short of me finding a ton of money randomly, that’s not going to happen, so if anyone wants to talk to me about their experiences I would love to hear details and would keep it confidential (it would not appear in anything I’m writing anywhere).

I don’t know how haunts work, and I don’t want to make assumptions, not having gone through them. But when it comes to this growth of immersive theatre, one of the things that has tripped a lot of people up is working with the concept of audience agency. Audiences, especially in this country, are used to passivity. When they are suddenly made active they frequently aren’t sure what to do, and they want rules that are spelled out clearly – if given clear boundaries, then they can take more risks with their actions within those boundaries. Because the boundaries for Ascension were fuzzy, in the beginning I had several members of my group asking ME what they should do (not just the one guy). There was one room in particular that was kind of escape-room-y where it was like they suddenly turned on and knew what to do, I think that room was what they were expecting, the rules they were used to. Oddly enough that room had me lost. I’m trying not to spoil so hopefully this is vague enough. So, as to what the “choices” are – yeah, are they clear choices, like should some HUD appear that says “THIS DECISION WILL HAVE CONSEQUENCES” so that you know you’re about to make an important choice? Or are the choices you’re making inside there more subtle, more mirroring actual life, in which case it’s a lot more difficult to define? @mike and I, as it turns out, had nearly identical experiences, and we were wondering what choices we each made that brought us to that path. And it’s really difficult, when you’re being commanded to do something, and then someone else tells you NOT to do it, to know if you’re allowed the choice. It’s confusing. There was a moment at the end where I was told to do something and was given the order with a VERY stern warning attached to it that I took as OOG. Then, someone else told me to disobey.

So one of the things that really fascinates me about this is the lack of handholding that the creator is going for. If there’s a consistent internal logic to all the choices, and we just haven’t broken off the rails yet by disobeying an order…is that a risk that someone needs to take? I love the idea of subtle choices that aren’t obvious, and things that need to be figured out – it’s MUCH more elegant than a lot of the decision-mechanics that video games (and consequentially, theatre) use. I just want it to be real and don’t want to get thrown out in the process of trying to make those choices.

[BryanParticipant]

I had a similar reaction @puppetgirl. I hadn’t been involved with Indoctrination like everyone here, and so I went in pretty cold. As a result, there were several things I didn’t pick up on, and I didn’t really have a handle on how much I could or couldn’t do — or might even be expected to do. (An example of the agency question that Megan points out rearing its head.) Because of that combination, I also felt like I was on rails for sections of the experience (and I have a feeling we may be talking about the same couple of scenes). However, at the end of my night I had one scene in particular that really helped me transcend that mindset — and got to me emotionally in a very, very real way. I have not been able to get that particular moment out of my head, and it’s had me thinking about the show ever since I left.

After hearing what kind of experiences the other people in my group had (all very different from mine), and combing through the archives here, I’ve realized there were definitely different things I could have done, and characters I could have interacted with that I simply didn’t realize were “special” characters in the moment. That’s part of the reason I’m excited to go back again (looking forward to the 22nd!), to see what other paths are possible inside the walls of the OOA — and what new moments have been added since I last visited.

• This reply was modified 7 years, 6 months ago by  Bryan.

[Anonymous]

@bcbishop – I’d love to talk with you further privately about this too – I think Noah might have been mentioning you to me? And I’d love to hear what more you discover on the 22nd.

[BryanParticipant]

Would love that @coryphella – and yes, I’ve chatted with Noah about this a bit. Shooting you a PM.

[Author]

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