REFORGED
Produced by Last Call Theater
Experienced in Los Angeles ~ June 2024
The Experience & How it Works:
Audience members take a brief, multiple-choice questionnaire ahead of the experience, the answers to which will determine which sect of the church they will join (think the “Sorting Hat” in Harry Potter). After a brief introduction by the Speaker, participants break out into separate “rooms” to learn more about their particular sect. Sect leaders then assign quests which send participants into the other sects in search of information and items of value. Secrets are learned and artifacts are uncovered, culminating in a final vote by all participants to select a new leader and determine the fate and future of the church.
Why it’s Interesting, IMHO:
Last Call provides a thoroughly immersive experience from beginning to end. The experience follows the group’s trademark style of sending participants on quests and allowing the audience to determine the narrative, so every show is guaranteed to be a unique experience!
Initial Impression & Critical Discussion:
Even before the show began, participants (I don’t want to call them “audience” because there is no watching in this experience… only participating) are thrown into a new world: the world of the Church of the Broken God. Upon purchasing a ticket, you are sent a brief questionnaire, the answers to which determine your membership in one of the three warring sects of the church. You then receive a letter from the former leader of the Church compelling you to attend the Holy Assembly, at which the factions of the Church will come together to elect a common leader.
From the moment you walk into the performance space, you are immersed in your new world. The Last Call ensemble quickly and competently establishes, through a combination of costume and attitude, the distinct personalities of the three factions: the Broken Church is traditional, conservative and catholic, rooted in history; the Cogwork Orthodoxy is scrappy, resourceful, and populist; and the Maxwellists are cold, technologically advanced, and future-facing.
I had been assigned membership in the Broken Church. I understood how my answers to the questionnaire led me to this assignment, but I immediately questioned my inclusion in this group, mainly because of its clear comparison to Catholicism. While we were invited to switch groups and allegiances if we felt compelled to do so, I decided to stick with my group to see what became of it. I think that the assignment of groups is actually one of the more interesting elements of the show, and one on which I’ve continued to ruminate in the days since the performance. As the groupings were based on each individual participant’s answers to questions about what they value most in life, what did it say about me that I was assigned to the Broken Church? While I initially internally rebelled against this assignment, as the night went on and I learned more about the other sects, I began to better understand and appreciate why I had been placed in this particular group. As the goal of the experience was ostensibly for the church membership to vote on a new set of rules and a new leader, the quests that led up to each vote did make me question what I valued — both in and out of the experience.
I elected to “partner up” with Ellen, another member of the Broken Church, as we were sent on various quests. The first quest was the most straightforward: use a key to break into a chest held by one of the other sects in order to retrieve an item of value for Father Otto. Ellen and I took the mission seriously, and I created a diversion so that Ellen was able to gain access to the chest. It turned out that perhaps we did not need to turn this quest into “Mission Impossible”, as the cast members generally obliged to help you get what you need in order to forward the story lines.
Generally speaking, this was a very ambitious show — perhaps too ambitious to be cohesive. I was sent on a number of quests, some successful (like the first break-and-enter mission with Ellen, and a subsequent one in which we had to barter with another sect to secure an item of value) and some unsuccessful. In the end, though, I don’t know how any of the quests in which I participated furthered the story or related to narrative. It seemed that the pieces that we collected (both the pieces of information and the physical artifacts that we procured) would have somehow come together to influence the progress or outcome of the story, but I was not able to find a connection. While there were some “scenes”, overall the experience felt more akin to an escape room than to a play with a cohesive narrative.
While it was fun to interact with the actors (each of whom was delightfully 100% committed to their respective character), I did find myself lost through much of the experience. I know that I was not alone, as I ran into other participants in the center of the space and the question was posed, “On a scale of 1 to 10, how lost are you right now?” — the answers to which averaged out at a 9. There were several quests on which we were sent to secure something from a particular character, and upon locating the character, they did not know what we were talking about. I’m not sure if this was the result of our misunderstanding or the result of there being too many separate quests and pieces of information for the cast members to track. Additionally, as all the quests were routinely interrupted by separate votes on the new laws of the church, it was hard to really follow the narrative with respect to the voting (which was the supposed goal of the Assembly gathering) amidst the urgency and immediacy of the quests.
At one point, Ellen and some other participants had collected some information that led to a scene in which leaders of one sect confronted the leaders of another sect. I only caught the tail end of the confrontation as I was on a different mission at the time, but I asked them about it afterwards. While they did feel fulfilled in having accomplished a task that led to a dramatic plot point, the group remain confused as to the purpose of the plot point within the overall narrative. Ideally, I would have liked for there to have been more of a direct connection between the quests and the vote; as the event concluded, I felt that I had mostly loose ends with no understanding of if/how they related to the overall purpose.
Midway through the experience, I found myself in possession of an artifact. I was then approached by a cast member and ordered to give her the artifact. I was confused if she was ordering me to do this because it was necessary for the show (i.e., was she breaking character and asking me to give it to her because she needed it to fulfill a scene), or if her approaching me was part of the plot line to test my loyalty to my sect, and therefore I should stay in character and refuse to turn over the artifact to an adversary. Generally speaking, not being well versed in the “rules” of such an immersive experience, it was often hard to gauge what was appropriate or not appropriate, what was welcome or not welcome in terms of both speaking and actions on the part of the participants. Participants who are veterans of immersive experiences may have an easier time navigating (and succeeding) in the world than those who are new to the landscape.
All things considered, I would say this is an experience where what you get out of it directly correlates to how much you put in. If you are willing to immerse yourself in the world and participate fully, you will have an enjoyable experience. I think that those who are shy or hesitant will find themselves at a serious disadvantage — though one thing I must mention is that the cast members went out of their way to make the participants feel welcome. Many of them learned our names — not just the leaders of our own sect, but the members of the other sects as well — and used our names throughout the evening. It was a small but very noticeable effort that not only made everyone feel welcome, but also made it easier for each participant to truly feel a part of the world.
As we find ourselves in an election year, it’s hard to ignore the allegory (whether intended or unintended) presented by the construct of the experience, with warring factions struggling to elect an imperfect leader who will unify the Church of the Broken God. In the days since participating in the experience, I’ve found myself considering the three factions — the one to which I was assigned, and the other two which each held certain elements of appeal. The quests were structured to make the participants question their sense of loyalty to their assigned group — and to their values overall. It was easy to identify issues on which we agreed and disagreed, and the dividing lines between the groups simultaneously seemed to blur and clear as the event went on. Do you vote based on a sense of (perhaps outdated) loyalty to particular person, group, or ideology? Or do you vote based on an evolving evaluation of principles, practically applied to the situation at hand? “Reforged” has the power to be a thought-provoking experience, provided you are willing to dive in and allow yourself to be provoked.
HOT TIPS:
· Bring your phone. While not 100% necessary, it is advisable to have a smartphone available during the experience as participants scan a QR code in order to read the choices and cast their vote during each of four votes taken throughout the event.
· Dress up! The immersion is what makes this immersive experience a success, and there’s no better way to fully immerse yourself than to dress as a part of your assigned sect. If you complete the questionnaire ahead of the show, you will learn what sect you belong to and can dress accordingly. If you’re a member of the Broken Church, think Catholic (really — two of our leaders were a collared priest and a Mother Superior), and the ones who weren’t clergy were dressed conservatively with funereal sensibilities. If you’re Cogwork Orthodoxy, think steampunk. If you’re a Maxwellian, think all black or all white, with a sleek, fashion-forward, futuristic edge.
· Bring a Friend. It may be less daunting to have a friend along for the ride. Even if you are assigned to different sects, the quests send all participants throughout the entirety of the space, so you can choose to stick together if that makes you feel more comfortable. If you choose to split up, then you can chat after the show to hear about what quests your friend experienced and what information they were able to learn from their missions.
Experiential Viewpoint Expression (E.V.E.):
Embodied, 1st person visual, 1st person narrative, entity, mortal.
Story Anchor:
When the leader of the Church of the Broken God goes missing, you attend an assembly meeting in order to elect a new leader, and then you are sent on quests to learn more information about your own and other sects, which prompt to you question your loyalty to your own sect and evaluate what vote you will cast.
Pillars of Game:
Voluntary Participation — check!
Goal — to complete quests to learn information in order for you to intelligently cast your vote for who you believe is best equipped to lead the church.
Rules — do not touch the cast members and do not touch set pieces unless instructed to do so by a cast member (e.g., as part of a quest).
Feedback — upon completion of various quests and sufficiently demonstrating loyalty to your given sect, participants may be elevated to higher and higher ranks within the sect (complete with ceremony!).
Conclusion: A small part of the experience is a scene-based narrative performed by the cast members, but the majority is quest-driven and depends upon the participation of the audience.
Who Should Experience This?
Immersive theater fans. Anyone looking for an unusual experience that is guaranteed to be different at each and every performance. Folks attending the Hollywood Fringe Festival who want to be a part of a show and not just see one on stage!
