Re-Imagineers Theatre Enters the Twilight Zone

The writing of the famous Ilsabardi short story author Rod Serling has captivated audiences across the Star since the Sixth Era. His style, known for its thought-provoking and disquieting tone and connective tissue of eerie atmospheric horror, were an absolutely genre-defining exploration into what could be in a world just a little more twisted than our own. In, as he was known to call it, "the Twilight Zone."

The Re-Imagineers Theatrical Company, who staged a smash hit adaptation of "The Great Train Robbery" written by the famed Doc Laladay earlier this year, have been preparing their sophomore production honoring Serling's "Twilight Zone" stories on stage. Featuring three independent stories written by Re-Imagineers company members Alistor, Little Blaster, and Andromeda Laruzedah, the "Twilight Zone Eorzean Re-Imagining" captures the feeling of thought-provoking eeriness of Roe Serling's classic works. 

Their play will be staged on the Fourteenth Sun of the Sixth Astral Moon (11/14) at their new performance hall in the Golem neighborhood of the Goblet.

With stories that examine the nature of faith, the danger of carelessness and aloofness, and the existential questions of art the three playwrights capture the spirit of Rod Serling, who himself is being represented as the play's framing narrator by actor Fuzzlewhack Vonboken. From what The Black Chocobo Courier has been able to observe, the production is set to be one of the most faithful recreations of Serling's tone in modern theatre. 

The Courier also spoke to "Twilight Zone" director Blaster as well as producer Penelope Lane, who directed "The Great Train Robbery" in late spring, about the production and the company's process. 

"The idea started when we decided we wanted to do short stories for our Fall production," explained Lane. "One of our members, Harry Oldman, made a joke about 'The Twilight Zone' and having Roe Serling as the host. Of course, it was a great idea."

Blaster added that while the performance coming on the heels of All Saint's Wake was a lovely coincidence, it was just that. 

"What really made 'the Twilight Zone' work is that this is only our troop's second production," he explained. "In that, we need to find our identity, and for that, a series of shorter but focused stories by a handful of our writing team would lead to a great experimentation. Without spoiling anything, our topics range from Ishgard's past to Sharlyan's future. Little is going to be off-limits here."

While "Twilight Zone" is a smaller overall production than "The Great Train Robbery," only being run on one night instead of two, the kinds of high production values of their inaugural production are present once again in "Twilight Zone," including originally scored music, impressive sets, catering, VIP packages and integration, broadcasts, and more, Lane explained. Blaster added that some of this productions' most stand-out roles are filled by people who played bit parts in "Great Train Robbery," including Alistor, Cinnamon Button and Katie Wolf. 

Tickets for the performance will cost 200,000 gil per attendee, with a VIP package costing 5 Million gil per person (which are now sold out). This money, Lane explained, goes toward the high expense of production. Elements like catering, broadcasting, original music, and sets don't come free, and so the cost of attendance is largely related to the high production quality of the performances. In addition, cast and crew receive pay commensurate with the extraordinary time commitments the Re-Imagineers put into performance to ensure quality and consistency in performance. Much of this money gets re-invested into the community, including Lane personally funding the Re-Imagineers in becoming a partner in this year's Great Ishgardian Frostfaire during the Starlight Celebration.

Lane also explained that now, nearing the performance of their second production, the Re-Imagineers are coming to really understand their process. 

"I'd say that the flow is something like write the story, casting calls and finding crew for streaming and live music, rehearsals and workshops leading up to the show, working on set design, helping the cast out with wardrobe and finally - opening night, and all the while - we have our musical magician Dizzy Shasha in the background writing the original score to premiere the night of the show. There's a lot going on in the background for a few months leading up to the production!"

Although the Re-Imagineers have plans ahead for their second year's major productions, Lane was a bit evasive. She only said that Year Two's performances would put in practice lessons from "Great Train Robbery" and "Twilight Zone," but that the public will need to wait for the new year to find out more information.

The performance of "The Twilight Zone" will be 11/14 at eighth evening bell (Eastern Eorzean Time), in the Golem neighborhood of Goblet; Ward 22 Plot 60.