A Study of Dreams.

Posted on November 2, 2017February 7, 2022 by Thor

Ricky Brigante contacted me about sketching what I assumed was a haunted house experience. He and Sarah Elger had produced a warehouse interactive experience called Catharsis which was beautifully designed and a joy to sketch. This production was built around the idea of being a dream world. Sigmund Freud considered dreams as wish fulfillment and this production pushed that concept to the edge.

Tickets for this show sold out within hours of going on sale. Groups are
limited to ten guests at a time. The experience was a beta test for a bar
concept that the producers are considering. They used the home as a way
to work out the kinks of a possible ongoing interactive experience.
Were they able to bring the idea to International Drive, it might very
well take off.

I paused at the entrance to the home, afraid to ring the doorbell. Something was off. It was a small unassuming house in Thornton Park. The front windows were all covered with plush red fabric. Ricky met me outside and escorted me through dark corridors to the living room area. This was the heart of the show where much of the action would take place. I set to work immediately. Sarah asked if I could execute a sketch in 5 minutes. I didn’t want to abandon what I had already started. Ricky showed me a photo of the scene she was considering. A beautiful nude woman stood in the shower bathed in red light. Bloody hell I thought, I need to figure out how to sketch faster, but I most certainly would be an odd addition to the bathroom. Ricky smiled and said, “I forgot to mention, this is a 21 and up show.”

A flat screen TV next to the bar had abstract images in motion. An actor looking at the screen prior to the show suddenly realized that the images were pornographic. Once you could see the images, it couldn’t be unseen. Sarah explained that guests were essentially kidnapped from a local park and then transported by van to the site. I had about 20 minutes to work before guests would get to the living room area. Odd cubist painting hung from the ceiling along with translucent gauze fabric. A spinning store rack had black mannequin heads with white strips of paper taped to the foreheads. Guests would take the strip with their name on it to find out what dream wish fulfillment awaited them. Menus also defined the delights that awaited.

A married couple had come to the experience. He wanted to experience the dreams as a way to get rid of his wife’s nightmares. She was shy and afraid that others were watching her, even desiring her. She was pulled away and he encouraged her to go alone. That wasn’t a great decision. The dream world was built by a doctor who was obsessed with phrenology, the study of skull shapes. The doctor, dressed all in black sat next to me on the couch. He had a drink and his hand shook. He was mumbling to himself that everyone should escape while they still could. The dreams didn’t all function as wish fulfillments, sometime there were darker unexpected consequences.

The wife returned while her husband was off in another room. She was transformed, sensual and ravenous for interaction and pleasure. A woman seated next to referred to her as a succubus. She sat on the arm of the couch next to me and asked what my greatest desire was. I was a bit flummoxed. My desire at that moment was strictly to finish the sketch I has started. A man entered the room dressed only in his underwear, holding his crumpled clothes to his chest. He had just come from the bathroom and apparently had taken a shower with the sensual woman inside.

A red glow emanated from the next room. Red icicles dripped light from the ceiling. I could hear the moans of a woman the entire time I sketched. One guest rifled through all the papers looking for clues about what was happening. I couldn’t avoid being part of the experience. Guests were curious about what I was doing. My sketch might be a vital clue. I simply explained that I was sketching the dream and kept working.

A semi-nude woman pulled a man down onto the mattresses on the floor to my right. They embraced passionately and kissed, but these moments happened so quickly that I didn’t manage to catch them in the sketch. The husband was approached by the doctor who was holding a large drill. He said it was time to wake up, just before drilling into the husband’s head in a horrific violent moment. The dreamers just watched in amazement. I imagine this was some barbaric form of lobotomy.

Towards the end of the evening, the disheveled husband was held in a chair by other women and his wife undressed in front of him. In a black garter she teased him and then strangled him. Pleasure always seemed laced with pain in his dreams. I finished my sketch after the guests had been called back to their waking life and responsibilities. I slipped out before the next guests began their dream. My dream had been fulfilled.

Catharsis adds a personal touch to horror.

Posted on October 22, 2016February 7, 2022 by Thor

Catharsis is an all-new immersive haunted experience
unlike anything Central Florida has ever encountered. This experience is not about simply startling you. It is not an “extreme” haunted house. Catharsis is about reaching you on a deeper level. It is about the chill that runs down your spine, about the involuntary feeling of dread that consumes you as you step out into the unknown.

Executive producer Ricky Brigante walked me through the dark sinister warehouse maze. We stopped in the Lust room, and we both knew that this is where I should sketch. To help me blend in, Ricky walked me to the actors dressing room and picked out a long flowing night gown with sequins and large triangular shoulder pads. The actress it was tailored for only had a two inch wide waste, I couldn’t wrap it around my bulky chest. All that guests would see, would be sequins on my legs and a white pearl necklace around my neck. I sat right beside them in a dark corner.

The actor in the Lust room, Sam Matusrek, had long lashes, eyeliner and a beautiful red silk night gown. We were briefly introduced in the dressing room before the doors opened. You enter the lust room through a jagged hole that has been knocked through a wall. Sam searched for a flashlight in the dark when he first entered. The room was illuminated by a single exposed red bulb. It had the sinister feel of an old school photographer’s dark room. An analog camera and darkroom chemicals were on the floor along with rose pedals. Masks were on a dresser and on the single lamp.

When guests arrived, Sam would inspect each silently by lightly touching their hair. Then he signaled for them to sit on two stools. He would then focus on his favorite by shining his light in their face and delicately painting their face with lipstick. He quietly sighed and moaned with delight at his creation. Some times they had their backs to me. Had I reached out, I would certainly have startled them. However I’m a good boy, a reserved pornographer. I kept my hands to my self.

Then he would take his muses hand and guide him or her to the sex stained bed. He would have them lie down and then he posed them in the position which best suited his lustful fetish. He would place the right hand above their head, and then cross the other across their chest or belly. He then opened a small cabinet at the foot of the bed. He removed a featureless yet sad mask for himself and then a second mask of sewn together bits of flesh. The flimsy and light flesh mask went over the face of his muse. He would then lie next to them and spoon close to their back or side. He wrapped his arm around them and would lightly stroke their arm. That delicate touch would illicit some chill up anyone’s spine, good or bad. Reactions varied. A few laughed nervously and others would lie stiff and still with only their twitching fingers as a hint that they were still alive.

As Sam left the room with his new cuddle buddies, he would check my sketch on the iPad and sigh with delight. I felt very much like a filthy pornographer. Sam’s camera was broken. He usually took photos of his models before he molested them. I became his only means of documenting his filthy creative routine.

make a Catharsis reservation

The Catharsis experience is available on select nights throughout October 2016.

hours: 8:00pm – 11:30pm

Tickets to catharsis are sold in 30-minute arrival windows. You must arrive and check in during that window. Upon arrival, you will first enter the deadly sins bar, where you may check in, relax, enjoy a drink and a few sinfully fun activities while you await your entry to the experience.

Select a remaining date to purchase a ticket:

you will experience Catharsis in groups of 1 – 4.

Standard entry ($24 per person) – you / your group may enter with other guests.

Private entry upgrade
($10 extra per person) – you / your group will enter without other
guests. this upgrade enables you to enter ALONE, if you wish…

Catharsis is inevitable.

When Shadows Fall, the Minotaur’s Madness.

Posted on September 8, 2016February 7, 2022 by Thor

The redrum appealed to me the first time I experienced When Shadows Fall. I had been assigned to assist Daedalus (Joe Hall) when I first became a citizen of Penumbra. My tasks never brought me back to this hidden sanctum. I discovered it later as I walked room to room during the first evening’s cast party. I needed to sketch this red asylum and thankfully the producers (Sarah Elger and Ricky Brigante) were on board with the idea.

The Minotaur, named Nathanael, (John Reid Adams) was in character from the moment he entered the room. I was cast as an artist, a member of the gold caste of the society, sent by the office to observe his activities. He paced the room and dug his nails into the wall, carving in sayings like “Why” and “What is the point?” Eyes mere everywhere to watch in his movements. When he heard that K. Alexander, Penumbra’s founder, had been killed he became quit distraught. Nathanael had been a gold member of society and a close friend of K. Alexander. Alexander’s son Nikolai, (Barry Wright), became jealous of the attention his father bestowed upon Nathanial. Nikolai convinced his father to have Nathanial become part of the Citizen’s Project, to be transformed in to a Greek godlike being. The surgery went wrong, and Nathanael, now the Minotaur, became mentally unstable and was banished to the Labyrinth.

Despite his abandonment and isolation, the Minotaur remained faithful to K. Alexander, and hoped someday to return and become a productive member of Penumbra society. In a sudden fit of rage, the Minotaur punched the a hole the wall. His knuckles were covered in blood. Much of his angst went unobserved by other citizens. He suffered silently alone, except for the watchful eyes of an artist. Odessa, with hair like Medussa, (Cassandra Heinrich), entered. She was startled by my presence. The Minotaur explained that I had been sent to observe. She saw his bloodied hand and was concerned. She turned to me in rage, “You saw him do this to himself and you did nothing!” I sheepishly explained that I was just there to observe. Odessa had also been a member of the gold caste of society. She comforted so many who suffered and share her fate. I was surprised that this tender moment went unobserved except by me.

The Minotaur was forcibly removed from his red room and dragged off to surgery. The thugs tried to calm him, “It is for your own good.” He returned much late and his broken horn was now restored. Perhaps the surgery had indeed been to his benefit. By remaining still, I managed to discover that the Minotaur wasn’t a monster. He was an intellectual, and a romantic idealist. He envisioned Penumbra as the perfect society even though that society cast him aside.

When Shadows Fall tickets have been selling out.

Only two performance remain of When Shadows Fall. Every show has been selling out.

Friday September 9th, at 8pm is a new show that was just added.

Saturday September 10th at 8PM is SOLD OUT

Don’t
miss this unique interactive theater experience. Leave your material
and spiritual insecurities on the outside. Consider Penumbra your new
home.

When Shadows Fall

Posted on August 21, 2016February 7, 2022 by Thor

I went to a media preview of “When Shadows Fall.” This groundbreaking interactive experience happens in a large innocuous warehouse south of Downtown Orlando. There is no signage on the building. A young woman in a black dress held her phone in front of her and spoke to it. I assumed she was skyping but she was actually recording a video blog. Inside was a waiting area where four clumps of press spoke amongst themselves. Ricky Brigante the producer and Technical Director welcomed me. I was issued a small bronze colored badge. It looked like a mechanical eye with sunlight radiating from behind it. It was attached to a note which read, “Welcome new Penumbra citizen! Please accept this symbol of our new society with my highest regards.” ~K.C. Alexander

One of my favorite early computer games was “Myst.” In that game, you wandered through a three dimensional world looking for clues about the now abandoned civilization. Penumbra offers all the mystery of “Myst” while being fully interactive. It is unlike anything I have experienced before. We entered the first fully functional, totally harmonious society in the history of mankind two at a time or, in my case, alone. I walked down a long dark narrow hallway approaching a woman who asked for my allegiance to the new society. I was directed to a series of glowing tablets on the wall. Here, new citizens are given their new roles in the society. I then had to wait for a office worker, Cain (Chris Brown), who was in charge of internal affairs and quality control. He interviewed me briefly. When he found out that I was a journalist and sketched, he seemed interested and advised me to keep me eyes open and report back if I found any, deviant behavior.

I was reunited with the group in a dark hallway. Then, Harlan (Brett Carson) began calling out names. I knew already knew that there were various classes in this society. Golds were intellectuals and artists, certainly that is where I belonged. Silvers were like the middle class, while bronzes were hard laborers and then there was another darker class, the nameless, that no one wanted to talk about. Harlan called out about five names and then he called for me. I met the woman in black, Mallory Vance, and we wondered what our new role in society might be. We were lead to an area near a large reinforced vault door. Harlan’s kind welcoming demeanor changed. He announced that our antisocial behavior had earned us a spot in Penumbra’s dark underbelly, the labyrinth. Dark sinister rooms were contained by iron bars. A red light blinked above the vault door. Harlan bolted the door closed as he left us behind. A large octagonal table offered a spot to rest and ask long-term residents questions. While they were all scarred and misshapen, the women were quite beautiful despite their scars.

Mallory and I were assigned to help Daedalus (Joe Hall), who was dressed in a dark leather trench coat with a sharp pointed collar. He had red scars on his face. He asked us if we would do anything to escape from the labyrinth. Mallory was all in. I hesitated, wondering if murder might be required. He asked us to help him mix a potion in his lab. The walls were burned as if there had been a chemical explosion. I warned Mallory, but she was already pouring the chemicals together in a flask. The mixture could be used to incapacitate someone and allow for our escape.

Mallory and I were each given armbands that made it look like we were under house arrest like Daedalus himself. We were then sent on a mission to recover documents from Nikolai’s office. Nikolai was an ambassador, the son of K.C. Alexander. After his father’s death, Nikolai took over control of Penumbra. Mallory and I rushed through the maze of hallways, and hid any time security came around. We hit the jackpot recovering plenty of aging documents from the office. I followed Mallory’s lead. She seemed to know her way around the hallways better than I. It was fun having a co-conspirator. A secret panel got us back to the labyrinth. We were looking for information about a citizens project but many of the document were love letters. When Daedalus asked about what we found, Mallory snatched up the love letters and hid them behind her back. She later gave these letters to Odessa (Cassandra Heinrich). Mallory is a romantic at heart, and she wanted the romance to remain private. Daedalus might have used the information to forward his own devious agenda. . .

Tickets to this first person experience are $45.95-$74.84.