Stardust: An Immersive Theater Experience
Reviewed by Dana Martin
Sassafras Saloon
Through November 20th
Have you ever wanted to be a star or would you rather remain a mere mortal? Stardust: An Immersive Theater Experience produced by Alterea Inc. at the Sassafras Saloon in Hollywood offers you the chance to experience both.
Stepping into the Hotel Dion at the Sassafras Saloon is a bit like stepping through a weird time warp into a strange alternate reality. Attica (Areeta Asgharzadeh), the hotel’s architect, is spending her last night on earth at Hotel Dion deciding whether or not to keep the souls that have been long trapped in the hotel there forever. These souls include her daughter, Iris (Naomi Melville).
Upon checking into the hotel, each soul receives a new and improved luminous form as a star in the sky at the expense of its memory and former mortal coil. Souls are doomed to stay stars forever unless they discover their previous lives. They can remain stars with a memory wiped clean or return to their mortal lives with their memories intact.
The initial plot is vague and the whole experience feels like a fever dream. The play seems to exist within the fragmented memories of the hotel’s longtime guests. We’re greeted by a gaggle of characters and personas, all in masks, some in masquerade, some otherwise. Quite a mysterious mix of folk. No one knows who they are or where they come from. The audience members are checked-in guests of the hotel as well and are invited to help the longtime residents find clues to connect them to their past and themselves.
Guests are encouraged to stay with one character for the evening’s entirety. Early in the evening, my companion and I cross paths with Nix (Audra Magness), a sweet lost soul who knows in her heart that she is a star — a Broadway star, that is — and therefore longs to be mortal once again. The only problem is that she has no idea who she is or how she ended up at the Hotel Dion. She becomes our guide and we follow her through the hotel, hunting down clues that lead us to her former companions, Casey (Sebastian Rohn) and Arthur (Thomas Colglazier). The trio discover that they have musical theatre in common, and compose songs that reveal their past relationships to one another — and underlying betrayals.
There are several B plot love stories that are convoluted and ever-changing. At one point in the evening, we march all over the hotel searching for Nix’s secret admirer, running into several wayward souls (and potential suitors) along the way in many flirtatious circumstances. Ah, young love.
The improvisation is slow to start (no one has a memory!) but the action picks up as the evening progresses and more specific information about each character and their motives is revealed. It’s fragmented storytelling to say the least, making it easy to get weighed down by the lack of a cohesive narrative. I found myself repeatedly asking basic plot questions in order to get a better understanding of where we were in time and space. The experience becomes much more fun if you simply follow the whims and discoveries of the guide rather than labor over connecting plot points. It’s initially difficult to identify what our “role” in the story is, but we follow Nix down the rabbit hole nonetheless. The more time we spent with her, the more we became her advocates and protectors, a role we assigned ourselves.
The Sassafras Saloon is a juicy location for the Hotel Dion’s otherworldly mayhem; plenty of nooks and crannies throughout the space including an additional area next door to the bar. Director Alexander Whitover creates a full alternate reality and provides the actors much fodder for play and exploration. The performers are earnest and eager to provide a worthy adventure. Their enthusiasm is infectious.
The cast is large, with several plot threads occurring simultaneously. It’s fun to banter with the characters, though we weren’t able to connect with many of them. By the end of the night, it felt like a large part of the narrative was missing — but that’s the blessing and curse of immersive theatre: everyone has their own unique journey and set of experiences within the world. The story unfolds in the shadows, the passing interactions and the cozy, private corners of the playing space. It’s impossible to witness it all.
The evening concludes as the audience is presented with an ultimate choice: ascend to a higher dimension or go back to the mortal world. As tempting as ascension may be, I chose mere mortality — and am quite satisfied to be back among the living.
Sassafras Saloon, 1233 N. Vine St., Hollywood; Thurs.-Fri., Sun., 7 p.m.; through Nov. 20th. https://www.altereainc.com. Running time: two hours with no intermission.
