Of all the immersive theatre companies in Los Angeles, Jon Braver’s DELUSION is one of the biggest and most popular. They have previously sold out their Halloween shows instantly and are admired for their thrilling shows that include wire work, masked plague doctors and intricate plotting. They are not known as The Haunted Play for nothing.
After a run-in with neighbors, they were out of the haunt season for a year and they produced a virtual reality version of their show Lies Within with Skybound Entertainment (that’s Robert Kirkman and David Alpert’s company that is responsible for the zombie apocalypse behemoth The Walking Dead). Their run of The Blue Blade was extended through June 2019 and for this spooky season, they choose to do a scaled down show called ALT DELETE.
I attended ALT DELETE last Friday and what I found was an inventive, engaging, and fun version of the escape room concept done with flair and lasers. As it happens, while I’ve auditioned for DELUSION, I’ve never attended one of their shows and I was very pleased with what I found.
While ALT DELETE is part of their larger universe of tales, don’t worry because the experience works equally as well if you know their previous shows or if you don’t. I didn’t and I had just as good of an experience as my friend who’s a long time fan. The promotional material advises you to bring your sense of wonder and that is a good idea. As with any interactive or immersive theatre show, the more you are willing to be involved, the more you get out of it. This is your chance to really be a part of the action which is the secret dream of most movie or theatergoers, so don’t blow it.
ALT DELETE isn’t really a horror show but it does have horror elements scary enough to make me dive for the floor and bruise my knee (be more careful than me, you guys) when things got hectic. It is more of a time traveling, science fiction mystery and I recommend it highly. Many spooky season shows go for extreme horror or they are standard walk throughs like those you see at the studio stalwart attractions. This is different and distinctive and really enjoyable. No one is going to cover you in blood or waterboard you, so don’t worry. You’ll only need to engage your brains and think fast.
DELUSION‘S ALT DELETE is a extremely enjoyable and well done time traveling mystery/escape room that will bring a smile to your face and a sense of satisfaction to your cranium. Go and see the wonders that engaged creators can do with a little space and determination. For more information, or to purchase tickets to ALT DELETE, visit www.bluebladesaga.com.
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