LA: Here the Birds Burn: A Phantasmagoria Revival
A promenade experience using early horror theater techniques
When: February 7–23
Where: Heritage Square Museum, 3800 Homer St, Los Angeles, CA 90031
Price: $55; 18+
Tags: #promenade, #sitespecific, #horror, #ContactAdvisory, #ContentAdvisory, #MobilityAdvisory (see below)
In a time before haunted house mazes and modern day Halloween…
In a time before film and photography…
Audiences hungered for horror-fueled entertainment, eagerly willing to pay anyone who would satisfy their needs to be scared for a night with friends.
And so there was the Phantasmagoria.
Here The Birds Burn is a revival of this early form of visual entertainment, meant to guide modern audiences into experiencing one of the first antecedents to today’s cultural love of all things macabre. The Phantasmagoria was a form of early horror theater. With the use of magic lanterns and optical illusions, ghosts and other apparitions were conjured, the lines of science and magic were blurred, and life and death were explored through both spectacle and discussion.
Incorporating working authentic 18th & 19th century magic lanterns with hand painted glass slides, along with being joined by fellow period-era theater guests, this immersive performance promises an evening of frightful delight. Performed at the Heritage Square Museum, guests will traverse through multiple Victorian-era historical homes throughout the performance.
Finally, if you so choose to join us as we conjure unholy spirits of the past, we ask you to wear only black, out of respect for the dead.
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Office facilities provided by Thymele Arts, in Los Angeles, CA.
Contact Level: Light (Business/Acquaintance) to Moderate (Familial)
Content Advisories: Fog/haze, moments of darkness, dark spaces, small spaces, unsettling/creepy imagery, loud noises, flashing lights.
Since this show will involve moving from house to house, be aware that you will be traveling across uneven surfaces, as well as going up small amounts of stairs. We can accommodate guests who cannot stand/walk for long periods of time, as most of the performance takes place with audiences being seated. There is a section of the performance that guests will need to sit on carpeted floor, however a chair can be provided if sitting on the floor is not possible. Please email us (herethebirdsburn@gmail.com) or notify the person who checks you into the show of your needs in order for us to best assist you.