Transience (Capsule Review)

[Original publication: No Proscenium, 9/21/21]

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There’s a scene from Inception in which Elliot Page’s character describes the “pure discovery” of architecting dream worlds. Transience, by Hitcher Encounters, offers a similar experience for audiences. Through a one-on-one phone call, participants are enlisted to retrieve an artifact, co-designing their mission by answering questions fielded by the performer throughout the call. Little else is revealed beforehand and once the show begins, it launches with force.

The writing is witty and the pacing quick. At first, the volume of description was disconcerting because it was too much to track and I couldn’t identify which specifics were crucial to my mission. And yet, this initially uncomfortable layer added to the “sliding doors” aspect of the experience. As I relaxed into the auditory rhythm of Transience, I “watched” the descriptions like I might a film or video game. Without the option to “press pause,” I never knew if a particular detail could have been relevant to the mission I was crafting. Some questions presented simpler, binary choices. Others were more open-ended and extended moments of creative exploration. The production’s format pressurizes the experience: without time to ruminate over decisions, imagination is unconstrained and intuition takes over. This is what drives that sensation of pure discovery.

Transience embodies a reminder that our choices matter. In not only what did come forth, but also what didn’t: missed connections, uncaught opportunities, and paths not taken. We wonder about those unlived lives existing in parallel universes. Even during the show, I craved the chance to do it over again and make a different turn at each intersection, to more fully sate my curiosity to know those alternative narratives, with my desire to probe all options and who I could be in each of them.