Introduction
1926
Pleasant was
a company-created, site-specific, experimental play combining elements
of
traditional theater and puzzles that the audience solved to advance the
story.
1926 Pleasant
was
staged at 1926
Pleasant Avenue
in Minneapolis.
This huge old house, built in the early 20th
century, had recently
been subdivided into several new condo units, and the intriguing
contrast
between the long, textured history of the house and the raw, new space
was one
of the influences in the creation of the play.
The play was performed in an
unfinished 2-bedroom unit, with
bare cement floors, unpainted sheetrock walls, and no furniture,
fixtures or
appliances. Everything in the space was brought in by the company.
1926 Pleasant
was
billed as a mystery. This was accurate, but even more accurate would be
to call
it a horror story. Lying to the audience about the genre of the show
was essential
in achieving the emotional response we intended—in order to
be shocked, you
can’t know you’re going to be shocked. The play
began light in tone, in
relatively open, well-lit spaces, but as the play progressed and the
elements
of horror became more apparent, the audience moved further into the
space, into
small, dark areas.
The Audience
The audience capacity was limited to 18 people.
The audience
size was dictated simply by the maximum number of people who could fit
into the
smallest room in the condo. 18 people, however, was a sufficiently
large enough
number that one of the key parts of the play became how the audience
interacted
as a group, since the puzzles forced people to work together.
In every
audience were some leaders, some helpers, and some
who were content to watch. We had some people who were good puzzle
solvers,
some people who thought they were good puzzle solvers, some who
discovered they
had a natural aptitude for solving, and some who knew better than to
touch a
puzzle.
People came to
the play alone or in groups, so that as the
play began everyone had to learn about the others they were working
with, and
decide collectively how to function as a group. Sometimes a natural
leader
emerged, and sometimes a group carefully took turns. Occasionally a
group
really didn’t work well with each other.
Beginning on the next page is a
chronological
description of the play, including company members' anecdotes about the
process of creation and performance.
Continue
to 2 - Instructions
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