D.G. Watson’s trippy Ascension may run a good fifteen minutes too long and leave an audience wondering what on earth this “immersive, interactive, sci-fi mystery thriller” was all about, but the Echo Theater Company World Premiere is nothing if not different, and a terrific showcase for its designers.

Originally conceived as an online production but reconfigured for live theater once that became a possibility, Watson’s theatrical maze introduces us to several initially unconnected characters.

Evan (Sami Cavestani) arrives first to hand out fliers announcing the existence of a “Second Sun,” a star with “magical properties that, 6000 years from now, once we’re in a closer orbit to it, will take us all to Paradise.”

Next up is Rebel (Charrell Mack), trapped inside an isolation pod and calling out to the audience for help in getting out. She inquires about the day and the year, wonders what’s happening in the world these days, and (per Ascension producer Chris Fields’ preshow instructions) we do our best to supply her with answers, though not unfortunately with a way out.

Dr. Monica Traver (Karen Sours Albisua), appearing first on screen and soon after in person, introduces herself as the head of AI and Suspended Animation Research at Enventure Inc., before engaging in conversation with “Inanna” (Elise DuRant). (Think “Alexa” to the nth degree.)

Among the topics Monica brings up with her AI assistant is the need for the SA-29 pod to have “a fail-safe mechanism that allows the occupant to exit in the event of a power outage or if the staff can’t reach them for whatever reason.” Hmm, that sounds like information that Rebel might find of use.

Monica’s teenage daughter Lindy (Gloria Ines) phones her mother with some bad news. Despite mask-wearing and social distancing, she’s been exposed to an infected person and will need to quarantine for 10 days.

As we alternate between Rebel’s claustrophobia-inducing pod and Monica’s high-tech world, two other characters show up, Monica’s boss Julian Raithmore (Steve Hofvendahl) and Caretaker (Leandro Cano), in charge of the facility where Rebel is being held for reasons related to a certain threesome’s triple murder.

If this all sounds more than a tad mystifying, get ready to be even more baffled.

Like The Tragedy: A Comedy and Unbound, Watson’s latest is a mixed bag. On the plus side is its originality, and as produced by Echo at Atwater Village Theatre, Ascension gives director Ahmed Best a chance to helm something out of the box, and an ethnically diverse cast the chance to play a number of effective dramatic scenes, in particular a action-packed confrontation between Albisua and Mack that is staged both on screen and then live on stage.

Audience interaction proves a mixed bag. It’s fun to be asked to participate, particularly when it involves using our phones, but precisely because we’re having fun (and occasionally aiming for our own laughs), it takes away from the gravity of Rebel’s dilemma.

An intermission arrives early on for seemingly no reason, or at least there wouldn’t be one if Watson would trim Ascension down to a leaner ninety minutes or less.

More problematic is that the more convoluted things get (some of them involving time travel six millennia into the future and seeing the same character played by two different actors), the less an audience may feel the need to even try figuring things out.

There can be no carping about the imaginative, innovative collaboration between designers Black Music The Avatar (music), Elio Oliver (costumes and lighting design), and Bill Vorhees (pod design), and most especially Jesse Gilbert (projections).

Ascension is produced by Kelly Beach, Fields, and Tessa Slovis. Christopher Jerabek is stage manager. Lucy Pollak is publicist.

It’s easy to see how Ascension could have worked as a Zoom-style online experience a la Echo’s Underneath The Freeways Of Los Angeles this past April. Though it’s better thought out and more satisfying than L.A. Freeways was, and though it’s thrilling for actors and spectators to at long last be in the same space together, I left Ascension equal parts bemused and bewildered.

The Echo Theater Company @ Atwater Village Theatre, 3269 Casitas Ave., Atwater Village.
www.EchoTheaterCompany.com

Proof of vaccination or a negative PCR test taken within 72 hours will be required of all patrons, and admittance is limited to ages 12+. All current CDC and local guidelines regarding seating and masks will be followed at each performance.

–Steven Stanley
October 6, 2021

Tags: D.G. Watson, Echo Theater Company, Los Angeles Theater Review