Kaidan Project: Walls Grow Thin Tickets On Sale

Rogue Artists Ensemble in association with East West Players is proud to present the world premiere of Kaidan Project: Walls Grow Thin, an immersive, site-specific multi-sensory experience inspired by ancient Japanese ghost stories, told through a modern multi-cultural lens. Directed by Rogue’s Artistic Director Sean T. Cawelti and written by Lisa Dring and Chelsea Sutton, this unique, haunting play takes place in a secret six-story storage facility in Mid City built in 1927 and plays October 5 through November 5, 2017.

You receive a letter from your childhood friend who is haunted by a mysterious event in your shared past—and she needs your help. When you arrive at her family’s warehouse, you ascend to the fifth and sixth floors in a creaking freight elevator, followed by a voice that calls out through the shadows, drowning you in echoes of wells and engines and graveyards, in tangles of hair and snow, in sharp reflections of your darkest moments—a voice that may not be human. A small group of twelve enters a room alone, the walls begin to thin, and a dark spirit stirs within you – will you ever escape it?

Kaidan Project: Walls Grow Thin is an immersive experience in 10,000 square feet of warehouse space and combines masked and unmasked actors, highly expressive physical performance, interactive sets, multiple puppetry traditions, projected media, sophisticated special effects, and illusions. It is not recommended for audience members who are not comfortable with walking, ducking, navigating small spaces, standing for periods of time, loud noises, moments of complete darkness, or being alone. Because of its nature, the show is not wheelchair accessible and audience members must be able to navigate stairs on their own, however Rogue Artists Ensemble will be offering a special modified matinee performance of the production that is wheelchair accessible.

Opening at a secret location in Mid City, Los Angeles, Kaidan Project: Walls Grow Thin will have a five-week run starting October 5, with shows on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays with up to six performance times per evening every twenty minutes beginning at 7:30 p.m. There will be four previews on October 5, 6, 7 and 12, with opening night on October 13. There will be added matinees on October 21 and November 14 with four performances starting at 2 p.m., with the 2 p.m. performance being modified for guests with mobility concerns.

Rogue Artists Ensemble will be hosting community puppetry and mask workshops and behind-the-scenes talk backs. Tickets will be limited. Check RogueArtists.org for details.

Kaidan Project: Walls Grow Thin stars Kamran Abbassian, Yiouli Archontaki, Tyler Bremmer, Tom Dang, Lara Thomas Ducey, Julia Fae, Eric Fagundes, Julia Garcia Combs McCristol Harris, Heidi Hilliker, Tane Kawasaki, Steve Jun, Joleen Kim, Amir Levi, Thomas Isao Morinaka, Jasmine Orpilla, Ricky Pak, Robert Paterno, Sarah Kay Peters, Jonathan Reich, Anthony Rutowicz, Devin Sidell, Miles Taber, Randi Tahara, Paul Turbiak, Kiki Yeung, Reggie Yip.

The show will feature music composed by Adrien Prévost, scenic design by Keith Mitchell, lighting design by Karyn Lawrence, costume design by Lori Meeker, video design by Matthew Hill, sound design by Steve Swift and Gilly Moon, props design by Glenn Michael Baker, and puppet and mask designs by Sean T. Cawelti, Jack Pullman, and Brian White.

Founded in 1965, East West Players is the nation’s longest-running professional theatre of color in the country and the largest producing organization of Asian American artistic work. www.eastwestplayers.org

Rogue Artists Ensemble differs from other theater companies in that it’s run by a collective of multi-disciplinary artists and designers rather than by actors, writers or directors. By combining ancient storytelling techniques (music, dance, masks, puppetry) with modern technology (digital media, special effects and theatrical illusions), the Rogues cultivate a unique style of live performance unlike any other. They define the combined use of these and other underrepresented art forms as Hyper-theater. Since 2002, the Rogues have created over 20 original new works and collaborated with hundreds of artists and community members.

Past Rogue Artists Ensemble Hyper-theatrical productions include Zen Shorts, adapted from the book by Jon J. Muth, which was just presented at the Pasadena Playhouse and toured to Minneapolis as part of the Natioanl Puppetry Festival and performed in Tears of Joy Theater’s 2015 season in Portland OR; Songs of Bilitis, commissioned by and work-shopped at the Getty Villa and later produced at South Coast Repertory and the Bootleg Theater; D is for Dog, designated one of the to-rated productions of 2011 by Bitter Lemons; Gogol Project, adapted by Kitty Felde from three Gogol short stories (Los Angeles Times “Critic’s Choice”; Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards for adaptation and design; LA Weekly Award for design); The Tragical Comedy of Mr. Punch, adapted from the graphic novel by Neil Gaiman (recipient of 3 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards); The Victorian Hotel by Angus Oblong; and The Story of Frog Belly Rat Bone, adapted from the book by Timothy Basil; and most recently Wood Boy Dog Fish adapted by Chelsea Sutton from the original The Adventures of Pinocchio (nominated for 6 stage raw awards and 3 Ovation Awards, winner of the Ovation Award Honor for Puppet Design). This year, Rogue Artists has also workshopped two plays in development, Cowboy Elektra and Señor Plummer’s Final Fiesta, in association with the City of West Hollywood’s WeHo Arts Program.

Kaidan Project: Walls Grow Thin is supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, Venturous Theater Fund of Tides Foundation, City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department, Los Angeles County Arts Commission, City of West Hollywood Arts Commission, the Japan Foundation, Japanese Garden in Van Nuys, the Jim Henson Foundation, and Macy’s.

Details for Calendar Listings
“Kaidan Project: Walls Grow Thin”

WHAT:
The World Premiere of Kaidan Project: Walls Grow Thin — Rogue Artists Ensemble in association with East West Players is proud to present the world premiere of Kaidan Project: Walls Grow Thin, an immersive, site-specific multi-sensory experience inspired by ancient Japanese ghost stories, told through a modern lens. You receive a letter from your childhood friend, Kana—a haunted woman whose nightmares have become intolerable. She needs your help to uncover clues about a mysterious event in your shared past. When you arrive at her family’s storage facility, Kana has disappeared somewhere on the floors above. In a small group of twelve, you ascend to the fifth and sixth floors in a creaking freight elevator in search of your friend, but you are followed by a voice that calls out to you from the shadows and wants to tell you a story—a voice that may not be human

The play contains mature themes, adult language, and theatrical violence, and is not recommended for audience members who are not comfortable with walking, ducking, navigating small spaces, standing for periods of time, loud noises, moments of complete darkness, or being alone. Address and entry information for this secret location will be provided after tickets have been purchased. Because of its nature, the show is not wheelchair accessible and audience members must be able to navigate stairs on their own, however Rogue Artists Ensemble will be offering a special modified matinee performance of the production that is wheelchair accessible.

WHO:
Kaidan Project: Walls Grow Thin
An immersive, sit-specific experience based on ancient Japanese ghost stories
Written by Lisa Dring and Chelsea Sutton
Directed by Sean T. Cawelti
Presented by Rogue Artists Ensemble in association with East West Players

WHEN, WHERE AND HOW:

October 5 – November 5

At a secret warehouse location in Mid City

Previews: October 5, 6, 7, 12

Opening: October 13
Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays every 20 minutes beginning at 7:30 p.m.

Matinees: Saturday, October 21 and Saturday, November 4 beginning at 2 p.m.

Special Halloween performances: Monday, October 30 and Tuesday October 31 beginning at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets $50 previews, $125 opening night, $65-$75 after October 13

Tickets on sale September 4, 2017

MORE INFORMATION:
213-596-9468 or www.rogueartists.org
Rogue Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/rogueartists

Rogue Twitter: http://twitter.com/rogue_artists

Rogue Instagram: http://instagram.com/rogue_artists

ABOUT ROGUE ARTISTS ENSEMBLE:
Rogue Artists Ensemble is an award winning collective of multi-disciplinary artists and designers. By combining ancient storytelling techniques (music, dance, masks, puppetry) with modern technology (digital media, special effects and theatrical illusions), the Rogues cultivate a unique style of live performance they call Hyper-theater.

ABOUT EAST WEST PLAYERS:
Founded in 1965, East West Players is the nation’s longest-running professional theatre of color in the country and the largest producing organization of Asian American artistic work. www.eastwestplayers.org