{"id":11872,"date":"2018-07-24T08:51:50","date_gmt":"2018-07-24T15:51:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/Becomeimmersed.com\/?p=11872"},"modified":"2019-11-26T12:34:39","modified_gmt":"2019-11-26T20:34:39","slug":"fringe-2018-unmarked-door-witnessing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/becomeimmersed.com\/fringe-2018-unmarked-door-witnessing\/","title":{"rendered":"Fringe 2018: Unmarked Door’s “The Witnessing” Teaches A Lesson On the Paranormal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Have you ever had an experience with the paranormal? The Witnessing by\u00a0The Unmarked Door<\/a> has.<\/em><\/p>\n

Maybe it\u2019s not a common question, and the answer\u2019s usually \u201cno,\u201d but it is<\/em> the first thing you\u2019re asked before attending The Witnessing, <\/em>the 2018 Fringe Festival offering from The Unmarked Door<\/a>.\u00a0 The show centers, as many great horror stories do, on a healthy sense of skepticism for the supernatural.\u00a0 Our host, Dr. Daugherty, is an expert debunker of various hauntings, but something about tonight seems different.\u00a0 Is that a chill in the air? A whisper from the corner of the room? Writer Sterling Powers, director Lola Kelly, and The Unmarked Door have invited you to a lecture on logic in the face of the unexplainable that\u2019s about to go terribly wrong.<\/p>\n

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Photo by James Sielaff<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Witnessing<\/em> is based on a simple concept: guests are attending a lecture by Dr. Daugherty where he and his assistant will prove that there\u2019s a reasonable explanation for several supernatural occurrences they\u2019ve investigated.\u00a0 As far as the \u201cimmersive\u201d elements contained herein, attendees are invited to examine several \u201ccursed\u201d items from the aforementioned events, chat with Daugherty\u2019s assistant, and even grab a work-conference-appropriate cup of weak coffee from the obligatory snack table. The setup is easily accessible for newcomers to immersive theatre, but still manages to maintain enough interactivity to pique the interest of veterans to the medium.<\/p>\n

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Photo by James Sielaff<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Once the presentation begins things take a turn for the bizarre very quickly, and the well-placed sound and lighting cues within the room herald the slow realization that Dr. Daughtery, despite all his bluster, might not have an explanation for everything after all. That\u2019s where The Witnessing<\/em> really succeeds; by creating an atmosphere that\u2019s just<\/em> spooky enough without trying too hard to shock its audience, and maintain the tiniest of attachment to reality. It\u2019s a refreshing approach to horror-theatre that is sometimes lacking in immersive performances; horror productions can often come off heavy-handed when the attempt to disturb an audience is favored over storytelling.<\/p>\n

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Photo by James Sielaff<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The Unmarked Door, in a similar vein to their 2017 holiday production, Heart of Winter<\/a>, <\/em>manages to tell an engaging story\u2014a traditional \u201chaunted house\u201d story that\u2019s spread beyond the \u201chouse\u2014while still maintaining what\u2019s rapidly becoming their trademark sense of dark whimsy. The Witnessing <\/em>may be somewhat light on actual \u201cimmersive\u201d elements (once the lecture begins, guests are mostly relegated back to the role of passive audience member,) but this kind of dual approach\u2014a short pre-show immersive portion followed by the actual meat of the story\u2014is what allows newer immersive audiences to engage with the material without feeling overly obligated to guide the narrative.\u00a0 Those who\u2019ve been to many immersive productions may balk at a perceived lack of audience agency, but the story told here is thoroughly engaging and portends a bright future for the creative team at The Unmarked Door<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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The Witnessing<\/em> takes the ghost story we\u2019ve heard dozens of times and puts us on the intellectual fringe of it; it\u2019s entirely up to the audience to decide what they think is real or disprovable. It\u2019s in the play\u2019s title; we<\/em> as participants will be the ones witnessing the incomprehensible. Dr. Daugherty says he\u2019s the expert, he says that everything will be explained in time, but what is<\/em> that strange sound?\u00a0 Did you see those lights flicker on and off? Can you ever really be sure that the afterlife is a myth? \u00a0And there\u2019s still one more question you need to ask yourself, once the lecture concludes: have you ever had an experience with the paranormal? <\/em>Don\u2019t be too surprised if your answer has changed.<\/p>\n

For more information on future offerings from The Unmarked Door, visit them on their website<\/a>, on Facebook<\/a>, or on Instagram<\/a>.\u00a0 To read Immersed’s <\/a>interview with\u00a0The Unmarked Door’s\u00a0founder Rolfe Kent, click here. <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Have you ever had an experience with the paranormal? The Witnessing by\u00a0The Unmarked Door has. Maybe it\u2019s not a common question, and the answer\u2019s usually \u201cno,\u201d but it is the first thing you\u2019re asked before attending The Witnessing, the 2018 Fringe Festival offering from The Unmarked Door.\u00a0 The show centers, as many great horror stories…<\/p>\n

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