Thought-Provoking One-Acts Fresh from The Twilight Zone

Fresh off of their previous play “The Great Train Robbery”, The Re-Imagineers are already back with another grand performance – this time, bringing a slice of existential science fiction from supposedly beyond space and time. Set aside what you think is going on, and slide into a realm that is full of tales, full of shadow and substance. Join your narrator, Roe Serling (played by Fuzzlewhack Vonbonken) as you descend, for an evening into... The Twilight Zone. Picture, if you would: three harrowing tales that may have more than a few bits of truth to them, tales by noted writers Radio Star, Little Blaster, and Andromeda Laruzedah that may have you thinking 'That really, really can't happen here... could it?'

I was lucky enough to get in on opening night, and from the comfort of my seat, I can easily tell you to not adjust your phasmoscapes, friends: they went and did it again. Three harrowing tales that will absolutely keep you thinking, guessing, wondering, and if you're au ra? You'll be cleaning your horns from tip to base three times a day. For weeks. No, seriously. But I'm digressing.

First off, I absolutely have to give the crew a definite nod: the theater itself is big, it's comfy, and it's warm and inviting. The smells from the theater concessions were awfully warm and inviting- the food was provided by Bandee Pakshee, who were promoting things like the Spotlight, a delicious take on a mimosa, and the Forum-Approved Space Ration, which was... just a block of archon loaf with the crusts trimmed off. Admittedly, I was tempted, but... I settled for a Spotlight and a Gillyburger. (Though I did stock the break room refrigerator with a supply of Space Rations...)

The theater set was designed beautifully by crew members Demi Deningrad and Penelope Lane, and each one really suited and helped bring everything to life, and I also absolutely have to hand it to Dizzy Shasha and Mai Secret Valentine, who worked with each play to provide a brilliant and wonderful soundtrack and also went out of their way to play some music during the intermission and between the second and third acts. But finally, well... let's get to the meat and popotoes: the three acts.

The first act, entitled “The Voice” written by Radio Star, started out in a tiny little village in Ishgard, sometime after the end of the Dragonsong War, with young Ysabel Bergierette (played by Soojin Hwang) stumbling upon what she believed was the voice of Halone herself (played by Katie Wolf), and bringing along her brother Nicolas (Fenris Septimus) on a quest that begins with healing their ailing mother (Lavender Abernathy), but ends up spiraling so far out of control that it could have national repercussions... and will have you thinking back and wondering... or changing some of your daily habits. Kaede Hattersire and Keiten Yumishi also have roles.

Honestly... out of all three of the plays on offer, this one spooked me the most- not just because I now have a habit of upkeeping my horns some three times a day, but also because it's scary how fast things simply snowballed out of control. One second, Ysabel is just another farm girl, and then... suddenly she's the next prophet of Halone and she's crafting a whole new sect simply because she hears a voice that could be Halone, but then... ugh, waves and whitecaps, this one still sends shivers through my scales... It says so much that it is so easy to whip certain parts of the populace into a frenzy over so little as a voice that nobody ever bothered to check where it had happened... or just exactly what was causing the voice in the first place...

The second act, after a brief intermission, was titled “A Cosmic Folly” - written by Little Blaster and starring Radio Star as a member of the Sharlayan Forum, on a visit to Ul'dah to hear the concerns of the populace, from a delightful woman named Karen (played by Katie Wolf) and more importantly an Ul'dahni merchant (played by Lavender Abernathy) with concerns about a new kind of mineral flooding the markets- ore that was supposed to be beyond rare, but can supposedly be found for a few gil a bit... and that's where the moon spirit Karatuu (played by Cinnamon Button) and their armed escort (played by Demi Deningrad) come in... Hana Murasaki and Fenris Septimus also have minor roles in this production.Honestly... while I'd like to think that the Forum has learned its lesson on keeping everything hidden away, this act did have me chuckling, because honestly, who couldn't see the Forum still doing something like this- essentially selling the star up the river for advanced tech like a microwave oven? I could see it. But thankfully, I very much doubt that the one remaining moon of the star is in any danger of falling from the heavens without a mighty big push. But still, the ending does give me pause- like, how much would a condo on Phaenna actually run? How much ore would it take to cause the moon to tumble down? And just how nummy were those scones at the end of the world? I mean... at the end of the world, I'm eating my mother's grilled yumemi with fish eggs and fresh clam soup...

Finally, the third act of the night- Apotheosis, written by Andromeda Laruzedah. A playwright (played by Radio Star) comes to a theater and finds some actresses (played by Kaede Hattersire, Demi Deningrad and Nerva Vertiga) busily rehearsing some scenes from his play, “The Lunar Gentlewomen”. Joined by his director (Cinnamon Button), he seeks to answer the bigger questions: just where did these actresses come from, what are they doing here... and is there more here going on than meets the eye? Keiten Yumishi, Fenris Septimus, Hana Murasaki - and most surprisingly, even Andromeda Laruzedah herself appear as characters- but honestly...

The question remains; was Andromeda playing a character, was she playing herself... or was she working for the behest of some other higher power? A play within a play... dare I say it, possibly within a play? Is this real life, or is it just some fantasy? Are all the men and women of Eorzea merely actors, and all the star a stage? Honestly... I'm not sure. Sometimes it might be comforting to know that there's somebody out there guiding my every action... but are we simply formed primals - thoughts given shape - or do we truly exist...?

The spring production of the Reimagineers has not been decided yet, but rumblings close to the crew suggest that perhaps the musical “Miqo'te” with its remarkably quotable song “Memory” may be in the offering for the spring production. Some among the cast and crew insist this is a joke.