LARPS, Psychomagic, Action!

Taking a break from fretting over the collapse of America, I interviewed my friends Alice Maynwaring and Morgane Ciot about their upcoming immersive “part theater show, part LAARP, part ritual” based on Alejando Jodorowsky’s Holy Mountain. You can learn more about the show here — first performances are already sold out — and sign up for their mailling list to get info on their imminent second run and future works. Morgane Ciot (writer/director/producer) is a writer & director based in NYC. Her work with the Classics Department includes directing and co-writing the genre-bending musicals Bet on Love and Dating Show to Save the World, as well as a number of underground immersive experiences, installations, and devised performances. Her first short film, Vibrator Girl, had its world premiere at the 2023 SXSW Film & TV festival, and was an official selection at Palm Springs International ShortFest, SIFF + Museum of Pop Culture Science Fiction, and others. Her writing has been published in Ortus Journal and has placed in several screenwriting competitions, including the Austin Film Festival. Previously, she was a software engineer in machine learning and biotech. She directed her first play when she was 8 years old, enlisting her brother and cousins into a misinterpretation of The Umbrellas of Cherbourg and charging the adults $5 to see it. Alice Maynwaring (writer/producer/performer) is an actor and event creator based in Brooklyn. She has created two immersive shows for festivals (Omega Mystery School and Om Nom Nominous) as well as an original larp (Fielding’s Hollow). With the Classics Department, she produced, stage managed, and performed in the dating show/musical Bet on Love. In 2022, she performed in the hit immersive show Bottom of the Ocean. In the deeper past, she co-founded Torn Out Theater and directed a controversial body-positive production of The Tempest that attracted a whirlwind of press coverage. She is also a student of many worlds, having studied psychology at Columbia, theology at Boston University, and Western esotericism in her spare time. She once worked as a software engineer, but today her aim is to create immersive events that challenge participants to discover new layers within themselves. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit danielpinchbeck.substack.com/subscribe