Reviewed by Monya De
Force of Nature Productions
Through Sept 27.
RECOMMENDED
Amid the strikes, headlines about L.A. film/TV production fleeing to Atlanta and India, and stories of WGA screenwriters lying to their friends about their new survival gigs guard carding at SoFi Stadium, it is easy to forget how much sumptuous, Pollyanna-ish, fully realized creativity exists in Los Angeles. Halloween offers an opportunity to spend nothing more than a night’s worth of UberEats tips on some surprisingly satisfying seasonal entertainment.
Somehow, Force of Nature Productions had escaped my periscope over the years, yet it has been throwing immersive spooky szn shows for a decade. Artistic director Sebastian Muñoz’s newest offering is Fallen Saints:Tales of Blaze City, a three-part immersive tale with the interlocking stories shown at 8, 9, and 10 pm each Friday and Saturday night.
You enter a church that resembles your apartment building, as well as the familiar trope of a character summoning you to “Hurry! There isn’t much time!” Clichés fall away after that, though. Blaze City — a tale set in the world of a comic book artist whose characters have lost their color and gone desaturated (how Hollywood) — sets up a simple but playable premise, that the colors of the spectrum must be found again to save humanity/us/society. (I’ll let you surmise on the subtext here.)
No, you do not play a film colorist tasked to fix everything with Adobe software, thank goodness.
The world is, especially given the cost of the show and the intimate setting, kind of a marvel. Hundreds of drawings cover the walls in the artist’s lair. The space unfolds into room after delightfully decorated room that screams creativity on a budget. The black-and white monochromatic decor extends to the costuming, hair, and makeup; all lovingly rendered to create a surprising number of unique, stylish-as-hell characters. Skirts have fashionable hems; black leather boots look enviable; facial deformities are expertly rendered despite being the subject of single reference in the show, the porcelain woman looks porcelain. Let’s just say your senses are engaged in more than one way. This production takes true pains to square it firmly in the “immersive” category.
Direction is taut, with deftly executed cues, transitions, and surprises. The acting varies a bit but is overall strong: William Lopez Muñoz’s artist could have gone more tragically goth and alluring, while Redetha Deason is a memorably flirty and vampy Augustina. There were smiles, gasps, and visceral recoils from our group of less than 20 people. Dina Cataldi as the Black Jay (a narrator/guide), has a demanding role (she substituted a few words during her rapid mono-and dialogues) and felt a bit one-note at times. I wanted to want to understand her character more during the show. The story is overall a simple one, but some of the line deliveries from multiple characters toward the end lent confusion. What was apparent throughout, however, was director Muñoz and writer Tyler Bianchi’s ability to create real pathos in what is essentially a MacGuffin tale.
The cast is largely POC/Latinx, which was sort of delightful to discover after the fact; the magic of stage makeup was doing its job. Especially if you plan for the triple header, hydrate up, wear comfortable shoes, and don’t dress too warmly, as it can get warm in some of the rooms with the number of people in a small space. While we had enough Goths in our group that it was sometimes hard to tell who was in the audience versus the cast, it goes better with the story if you dress colorfully.
Force of Nature Productions, Sawyer’s Playhouse, 11031 Camarillo St., North Hollywood; Fri.-Sat., 8 pm, 9 pm and 10 pm; thru Sept. 27. www.fonproductions.com Running time: Each segment, 50 minutes.
