[LawrenceParticipant]

They called me.
Said, “We’re trying to reach Buz”
I told them you were dead.
Hope that’s okay.

[LawrenceParticipant]

I will be going for my 3rd visit Saturday evening.

[LawrenceParticipant]

I shall ascend attend.

[LawrenceParticipant]

Or let me ask this, since we are talking in metaphor.

God was disciplining the Israelites by giving them into the hands of the Philistines.
Samson was the child who would deliver them from the Philistines.
Who married a Philistine against God’s wishes, had his hair cut against God’s wishes, and was deprived of his strength.
Had his eyes gouged out and made a slave.
And then brought down the Temple upon the Philistines.

Are those within the walls of the OOA the Philistines…
And are we, The One, the Israelites who are to be delivered…the last ones left standing…?

After all, as the Monkey said, Addison Barrow is a touching story but sounds just like a lie.

[LawrenceParticipant]

Lest we forget…

Samson (whom I have not yet met) is perhaps named for the Biblical demigod. After God leaves him, his strength leaves him, and the Philistines GOUGE HIS EYES OUT and make him a slave. He dies when he rests against two large pillars inside a massive hall where all the Philistine Lords are congregated. He asks the Lord for strength one last time, and it is granted.

He pulls down the two pillars, bringing the entire temple down around him, killing the Philistine lords and about 3000 other people.

Is the OOA the temple…and are we the Philistines?

[LawrenceParticipant]

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This question has vexed me as well. It’s all jumbled in my head but I feel like there was a brunette girl who killed herself the first time I was there, but was there again the second time — but this time standing behind the Oracle on the left.

Another thing that made no sense — on my second visit, a girl named Victoria (petite brunette) was in the corner of the videotape room. She told me she was an actress, had been on this “job” for 2 weeks, they let her go anytime she wanted, was being paid, the checks cleared and said that all the other “actresses” were “really taking it seriously, they were really Method-y”. She seemed very concerned, and asked me twice, if I’d heard anyone call Addison by her real name. That nobody did seemed to worry her a lot.

Then she was the unfortunate Oracle candidate. Which begs the question — why her? I had earlier helped the Overseer select a candidate, although I told her that it was a weak candidate. Why choose Victoria, who claimed to be an actress, and could never have truly ascended…

Thus leading me to conclude that there has not been any actual ascension…

And therefore leading us to ask “why”?

Mysteries cry out for human inquiry in order to uncover the truth.
Secrets strangle the truth, and mock human inquiry.

There are more secrets here than mysteries…and that’s what worries me.

But to further complicate matters (!), Let me add something from SLEEP NO MORE, the show that influenced the creative team. If you have not been to that show, I will caution that what I’m about to say is a “MILD SPOILER” of that show, but related entirely to the structure we are discussing for TENSION. There’s no real surprise here, as it’s pretty widely known information.

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The action each night at SLEEP NO MORE runs on three loops per night, with everything resetting each hour. I believe that the characters within the McKittrick Hotel are in a kind of purgatory, reliving these events over and over, and we (the audience in identical masks) bear witness to all of this, almost as spirits. [Very reminiscent of GENESIS’ song “HOME BY THE SEA”]. There are rumors that a certain quest exists within the structure that will break the loop and I’ve seen evidence of it but never confirmed it.

Thus, form follows function. Perhaps that is also what we are witnessing.

[LawrenceParticipant]

If I return…

[LawrenceParticipant]

There are no facts. There is no truth. There is only data to be manipulated.

See my post re: Killjoy: Samson & Meaning of OOA

[LawrenceParticipant]

Asked if (insisted) she was a sub, she said, “Sometimes”…but the subtext I read was that she was but didn’t want to completely admit to it.

[LawrenceParticipant]

He made the same comment about a woman I was standing with on my second visit. He was right about her.

[LawrenceParticipant]

Can someone link to this periscope? This link isn’t working, says “Video can’t be processed”.

[LawrenceParticipant]

I’ve been three times to the McKittrick, each time more rewarding. It is a different experience, which I compare to walking into a fully-imagined David Lynch film.
Is it true that there is a central quest to be had? I’ve had a couple of memorable one-on-ones. Yet you are ultimately a passive participant.

I’ve stated in my reviews that I believe Tension is, and will be in time be known as, a seminal moment in American theater.

[LawrenceParticipant]

No question there. TENSION is infinitely more complex and emotional.

[LawrenceParticipant]

He made it pretty clear that he was a sergeant in the Royal Marines. While in Afghanistan, leading a patrol, an IED went off.
His best mate was at the rear of the line and took it full on, and died in Simon’s arms. There’s no way he was OOA before becoming a Royal Marine.
He made it pretty clear that he came to OOA after, and it was his idea to recruit younger people.

We got on quite well. His demeanor never intimidated me because I had a WWII veteran as a math teacher in high school who made Simon look like my grandma.

[Wrote a memoir about him: http://www.misterbarlow.com]

At one point, I was stretching my legs in the Interrogation Room when he walked in with a handler and a new aspirant whom I would finish processing. He yelled “Get the fuck back here!” and “Sit down!”, pounding the table — but as he did, the look on his face was, “We both know I have to yell like this at the moment”.

Later, as I was entering the Red Room with a group of ten, I was last in line. Before entering, as he turned to leave, I said “Sergeant”. He turned, I gave him a right proper British salute, he shook me hand, and said, “Good luck in there, Mate”.

[LawrenceParticipant]

That doesn’t sound right. 1988 would make him about 14. He also told me he was a Royal Marine in Afghanistan before coming to OOA.

[Author]

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