Robert Cunha – Analog Artist Digital World

Church of Saint Bearer was written by Irene Pynn and directed by Robert Cunha. The audience was ushered into the theater under the premise that they were going to a worship service. The helpful hymnal advised that we should cover our cough. There are often people who cough

as they settle in at a theater but I was more aware of the coughs and even coughed myself.

Mentor Higgins (Brett P. Carson) stood behind the pulpit and asked the congregation to stand, he then lead the audience in a series of calls and responses. I remained seated since I was sketching. Higgins said: “We pray, therefore,” “We think.” replied the congregation. Someone in the congregation coughed.

Outside the church people were getting sick. It was an epidemic. Dave (Malakai Green) a young parishioner had doubts about his faith in the face of this epidemic. Higgins gave him academic answers but as the horrors escalated he too questioned his faith. Victor stumbled in and fell to the floor. His cheek had been bitten off. Blood was everywhere. Anyone infected could turn and attack others. One parishioner stabbed another hoping to stop the spread of the infection.

Higgins had to contemplate murder to keep the peace. Blood spattered on the Japanese screen room divider and the shadow of a woman’s lifeless hand was projected on the back of the screen. Religion no longer offered serene wisdom. Only chaos and horror remained.

I have been documenting each performance of When Shadows Fall. Since I’ve become somewhat of a fixture, the cast works around me as if I were a member of the futuristic society of Penumbra. I am cast a a member of the gold cast of society which consists of the intellectuals and artists. I dress up a bit to look the part. On this evening I focused on Harlan the Engineers lab. Hawthorn (Robert Cunha) is both a pastor as well as an engineer. As I sketched in his lab, I heard him preaching in the chapel behind me. He asked the congregation to close their eyes and imagine what he described. His vision was so cynical and disturbing, that it sounded like the ravings of a madman.

After the sermon, he quickly entered the lab, and grabbed a bottle of booze from the cabinet on the right. He offered me a cup, we were long time drinking buddies. On his stool, was a mechanical device, it was the final piece of something he had been working on for a long time. Two of the new citizens were assigned to his lab. He instructed them on the final steps to complete the devise. Plans on the walls showed all the inner workings. Before the manufacture was complete, or the devise tested, a member of the office came in and confiscated all that he had been working on.

An orange glowing shackle on Hawthorn’s ankle kept him under house arrest in his lab. His assistants however were not constrained. He gave them both walkie talkies and asked them to find a fail safe that could disarm the device. If the assistants failed, all of Penumbra could be in jeopardy. Harlan’s daughter, Odessa was used as bait, to keep Harlan on task. There were spies, espionage, and at times it was hard to distinguish the new citizens from the cast.

What choices the new citizens made could dictate how the story might unfold. With so many story lines unfolding at once, you never get a complete picture of what is happening everywhere. You would never see the same story if you returned. Some scenes unfold without any witnesses. I was the only person who saw the tender relationship between Hawthorn and his daughter Odessa, (Cassandra Heinrich). Just as in everyday life, the tenderest scenes can only be witnessed by slowing down and being perfectly still. When Shadows Fall is a truly unique evening of interactive entertainment. I for one, am highly addicted.