Support Natalie's Immersive Theatre in LA

Hi there! I'm Natalie and I'm an actor and creator here in LA. I'm currently working on building my first immersive theatrical experience and I need help!

What is an immersive theatrical experience? Well, each experience is wildly different, but this one is my very own brainchild. "Una Selva Oscura" is a two-part immersive play. The first part is a play that takes place in one room, with one actor, to be performed for 1-2 audience members at a time. Rather than passively watching the story from your seat in a theatre, however, immersive theatre invites audience members to take part in the story, in a 360 degree space where they can participate in the dramatic action with the characters. The second part is an online 360 degree film that offers an immersive, cinematic, narrative ASMR experience. (For an idea of what I'm talking about, check out Made in France ASMR.) I'm really interested in the how we can create soothing, meditative ASMR with high production value while exploring complex stories and characters in a way that isn't cringey. I really believe there's a way!

This story is centered around a young woman, Melanie, who finds herself lost in a forest that exists in between worlds. As she tries to fight the darkness that threatens to drive her mad, she creates a world of her own filled with stories and characters that help her survive.

Inspired by Dante's Inferno, the Daniels' "Swiss Army Man," and The Nest, "Una Selva Oscura" is experimental theatre that wonders what does it mean to create unbounded? What does it mean to put your faith in your art? And is it possible to transcend the barriers of our own minds?

My partner, Caleb, and I are creating everything in this experience by hand. We are composing original music, painting cardboard walls, paper mache-ing giant trees, and devising this story piece by piece. I've never undertaken a project as large as this one and it's the scariest thing I've ever done. Everyday I ask myself why I, an actor and singer, am spending hours hand-painting cardboard masks and hot-gluing fake leaves to a wall. I have no answers. All I know is that creativity calls and it feels cosmically necessary to respond.

Now, why would you donate to someone's weird immersive theatrical experience after wildfires tore apart large swaths of Los Angeles and people need to rebuild their entire homes? Well. It's truly up to you, but most transplants who come to LA come here to create art. We come seeking community and inspiration. We come to chase our curiosity and creativity and see what beautiful things come of it. I believe when sh*t hits the fan, we need art even more. The soul of LA is made up of each of our creative expression. If we stop creating, this city will cease to be the international haven for artists it has been for over a hundred years. We need to both create and enjoy art because what else are we put on this planet to do other than to create?

Truthfully, I don't want to charge anyone to come and do this experience. I want to offer this experience to the beautiful people of my city for an extremely affordable cost because I believe in it. However, making floor-to-ceiling immersive theatre costs money–even when you use cardboard and paper mache for most of it. We want this experience to be sustainable and have avoided single-use plastics and are purchasing 80% of all our props secondhand.

As a thank you for donating, we'll be sending you exclusive behind the scenes content of what it takes to build an experience like this, and even if you can't come to experience "Una Selva Oscura" in person, we'll send you the second, online part so you can still get a taste of the experience.

If you'd like to learn more about my work check out my website or my IG: https://www.natalielall.com/

https://www.instagram.com/natalie.lall/?hl=en

THANK YOU SO MUCH for your support. If even one person donates to this, I'm going to cry and you will get profuse thanks from me. <3

If you'd like to reach out to learn more about what this thing is, please don't hesitate to email me. <3