Good theater pulls a viewer into the story. When it's done right, talented theater professionals can almost make an audience feel as if they were living in the world portrayed on stage.
If they can work that kind of magic from a stationary point in a theater, it makes sense that constructing a tangible world for the audience to explore, observe and move through at their whim could breathe even more realism into the life of a story.
That logic is at the root of the Alchemist Theatre's one-of-a-kind upcoming production of "Faust: An Evening at the Mephisto Theatre." In preparation, theater owner Aaron Kopec is literally transforming the entire Alchemist space into his alluring incarnation of this battle of good and evil.
"There's a lot of shows that claim to be site specific because they take a show and put it in a warehouse or they take it someplace out of a theater," said Kopec, who also serves as writer and director of "Faust." "I could never take this show and do this someplace else. This show was written for this space."
Set in the 1920s, this dark and seductive retelling of Faust's deal with the devil revolves around the cast and crew of the Mephisto Theatre's own production of the Faustian fable.
"In our version, the soul of John George, who plays Faust at the Mephisto Theatre, is the soul that the devil is after," explained Kopec. "The outermost shell is this theater, and all they do is perform 'Faust.' Their real lives start emulating the story that they are performing on stage. It's a quick trip from 'Oh, this is a theater at the peak of its career and the peak of their popularity' to everything starts falling apart. There's little love triangles and deception and lies, and at the end it's just complete mayhem."
Audiences will be treated to a truly unique perspective of "Faust" as they're allowed not just a front-row seat, but the chance to immerse themselves in the midst of the story as it happens. Part choose-your-own-adventure and part living ghost world, audience members can wander through alleyways, hidden speakeasys, dressing rooms and absinthe dens, absorbing different scenes and piecing together this mysterious world firsthand.
"The important thing to keep in mind is that you're not wandering from scene to scene. The characters themselves will also be moving around. The whole space is pretty dynamic," said Kopec.
"If you're watching a scene and two characters are having a fight and one of them leaves, you as an audience member have the option of seeing how the person who stays reacts to the fight, or you can follow the person that leaves to see what they do after this confrontation. It's almost as though you're in a neighborhood full of ghosts."
With so much going on, it's easy to think having so much going on could overwhelm the main story. But Kopec, along with his cast of talented actors, have planned "Faust" down to the last detail.
"It's all scripted. We have a whole crazy chart to figure out the timing of each thing," he said. "This is a very difficult show for the actors, and to have such an amazing cast come in and understand what we're trying to do and pull it off is amazing. As much as I can say just about everything I've done myself, it's really about the cast in a show like this."
Because audience members are free to wander, Kopec says there's no way for them to see everything. They will, however, get the big picture of the story, even if they didn't witness a minor event themselves.
"Each scene is a rock being tossed into a pond, and it causes ripples. You might not see the rock go in, but you'll feel the ripple from that rock, even if you're in the next room or the next location a few scenes later," he said.
Those worried about not getting their money's worth, however, have nothing to fear. Much like the events of the evening will propel the players of the Mephisto Theatre, "Faust" is also structured to maneuver the audience to key scenes, including the grand finale.
"The themes definitely overlap enough that you should get a good, solid jist of what's happening," said Kopec.
"These people, as much as they think they have control over their destinies, are all being used against each other and no one really has control of their destinies. While you watch the show you'll no doubt know where it's headed, but I don't want to give away how it ends."
Contrary to her natural state of being, Renee Lorenz is a total optimist when it comes to Milwaukee. Since beginning her career with OnMilwaukee.com, her occasional forays into the awesomeness that is the Brew City have turned into an overwhelming desire to discover anything and everything that's new, fun or just ... "different."
Expect her random musings to cover both the new and "new-to-her" aspects of Miltown goings-on, in addition to periodically straying completely off-topic, which usually manifests itself in the form of an obscure movie reference.
