Poe-Etique

Will salvation or the Red Death be your fate at Raven’s Manor? 

Immersive Scene Los Angeles 2025 review

It seems fitting it took Immersive Scene Los Angeles until the final week before Halloween to discover the show that truly made the spooky season reach its full potential.  Good things come to those who wait, and while we witnessed some exemplary examples of immersive theatre in the 2025 season, the new production of Poe-Etique eclipses everything else this year. 

To try and define what director-writer Vincenzo Carubia and his collaborators at Skiptown Productions have conjured up at the large Quonset-hut performance space known as MiViDa near downtown is almost impossible to capture in words.  Yet reviews require words, so: To call it only a memorable immersive theatre experience would be an understatement.  To describe it solely as a breathtaking dance presentation alone would not nearly do it justice.  To say it’s exclusively an acting tour de force would be to undersell its powerful impact.  The production, in fact, is all of those and more.  It is a one-of-a-kind, should be an anytime-of-the-year theatrical event that defies description.  It is simply greatness.

The evening begins with much anticipation as you and other gathering guests – a maximum of 35 per show - sign in at an outdoor table next to the curved-roof building.  There’s something in the air that you sense immediately and hope will be realized inside.  Have no doubt, it will be.  Unfortunately, it happens to be the Plague.  Alas, each guest is given a mask, depending on the type of ticket they’ve purchased (regular, VIP or the Golden Raven Experience), which will somewhat affect what they see and where they see it during the two-and-a-half to three-hour spectacle ahead. 

As an early arrival for the elevated and longer experience, our smallish group was soon shepherded into an eerie hallway and given instructions for the evening.  After a short ceremony indoctrinating us into the Raven Society we collectively girded ourselves for the narrative about to unfold.  Waiting there in the faux candlelight illuminated passageway, each in our elaborate masks, had me thinking of both Venice at Carnival time and Eyes Wide Shut, Stanley Kubrick’s late career cinematic masterpiece.

But, we were here to see a presentation inspired by another master, Edgar Allan Poe, a name as synonymous with all that is horror and Halloween as it is with companies around the globe that produce countless shows inspired by his macabre works, often modified for modern day audiences.  Poe, I feel, would endorse this one himself. 

Rest assured, one need not be a Poe expert to recognize the show’s many influences from America’s preeminent writer-poet of gothic fiction – the words have been told and retold in numerous iterations from literary through theatre and film so much so that we innately know them.  Thus, with references to The Raven, The Black Cat, The Tell-Tale Heart, The Cask of Amontillado and with the storyline most heavily drawn from The Masque of the Red Death, the eerie narrative feels both new and oddly familiar.  That we are invited in to wine and dine with wealthy Lord Montresor at his Raven’s Manor while the ravages of pestilence and imminent death rage just outside the handsome castle seems a fair enough offer, even though what’s outside might ultimately prove the safer and saner option.

Soon seated in the main room, which has been fitted out to become an impressive dining hall, you quickly give yourself over to the Victorian era 1849 setting of the story.  The cast casually filter in to welcome you, a fellow aristocrat, to their sanctuary, introducing themselves while you are served drink and hor d’oeuvres.   The manor gates are presumably locked forever from the ravages of death that fills the air.  After being greeted by the dashing Lord of the manor, Montresor, who offers me a few gossipy bits to chew on, another of Poe’s favorite characters, Lenore, steps over and sweetly introduces herself.  She beckons to know how my evening is going thus far.  I mention the terrible traffic jam on the way to the show on that damn 110 and she asks quizzically, “What is that?”  I quickly remember that I’m in 19th century England now and change my story to that of my carriage having been delayed on a bumpy country road.  Ah, that she understands and sympathizes with me before moving on to the next guest.  This is truly going to be immersive with focus.  Pay attention.  As a participant in the proceedings, you will be invited to dig in as deep as you comfortably choose in immersive interactions or just sit back and watch others do so. 

It isn’t long until guests understand that there’s more than charcuterie on the menu; Death is as well as there is much chatter around the table of the spreading Plague.  When Death in form makes its first appearance of the long night it’s not of the grim reaper variety, but, instead, in the visage of a beautiful and seductive creature who moves intoxicatingly through the space – dangerous yet alluring.  This death is tempting, perhaps a better alternative than suffering with the bleeding disease that just precedes her.

So, with a VIP ticket, it’s you and a dozen or so others that get a prologue head start and sit at the long table in Raven’s dining room to mingle with the man of the manor and his patrons.  Whether they be talkative family and friends or the tight-lipped staff, soon the cracks begin to appear in all of them with torment, fear, hidden agendas and mad ideas. As the night grows longer you will see them all unravel one by one.  A disturbing rumor begins to circulate that only one of us is getting out of here tonight with a beating heart.  The presence of a brilliant or simply mad doctor offering his theories on our chances, and his dangerous yet possible cure, only intensifies the feeling of dread.  And some of the characters are starting to cough a bit and look peaked.  Smiles of just a few moments ago have changed to tight faces.   More wine please!

After our plates have been hastily cleared, our group is split up.  Some are led into chambers on different floors, each to see a unique perspective of the Raven’s Manor puzzle.  I follow one or two characters and learn their connection to the story.  Others may choose their own path.  At times, you will be encouraged to wander at your leisure but subtly steered to exactly where you are meant to be to grasp the full narrative.  Ultimately, by the end of the night, all will know the madness that has overtaken the patrons of the Manor, even if each guest has a slightly different path to arrive there.

After a tarot card reading I head back downstairs and discover the guest list has grown substantially, as fresh arrivals now fill the main performance area.  The new inductees are quickly and cleverly caught up to the tale and collectively join in the immersion for the remainder of the evening.   What follows will include a mélange of mesmerizing dance, tremendous acting and memorable storytelling, but that’s all I’ll tell you.

What’s most remarkable about Poe-Etique is how a great story and genuine care for providing a memorable experience for guests can elevate mere performance into a revelation.  Too many shows sacrifice story in favor of flash and effects or simply a get-them-in-get-them-out mentality.  This is not the case here as penultimate concern was to create a lengthy entertainment which will keep you and others collectively connected and entranced for a full evening.  Have you ever heard of an immersive experience that actually has an intermission?  There’s one here, and when you return from it the best of the night is yet to come.  That Carubia and co-director Ilia Anais are able to pull this off nearly seamlessly across multiple sets and rooms simultaneously is quite remarkable.  And they do so while corralling guests and moving them about so that key pieces of business are not missed.

The cast breathes incredible life and ultimately death into their roles with superb and committed performances to a person.  The entire ensemble are wonderful, and there is not a single one not up to the task of defining a fully-realized three-dimensional character and maintaining it with their own arc throughout the night.  You could literally follow just one character during the show and find a satisfying throughline, but what fun would that be?  The space is yours to seek out as many as you dare shadow.  And these finely tuned thespians aren’t merely asked to emote, many are also world-class dancers who propel across the room in numerous styles of movement throughout the evening.  The transitions from acting to dance and back again are seamless and never feel forced.  Poe-Etique employs a rotating troupe of actors from show to show and you may see an entirely different group than Halloween Scene Los Angeles experienced, but standouts the night we attended included Tristan Rewald as Montresor, Sheena Leigh as Morella, Deonna Leigh as Lenore, Jewell Valentin as Dr. William, and Mirna Moreno as Annabel.  In all honesty the entire cast had fine moments. 

Choreography by Deanne Catterton and Payton Murillo – both of whom also perform in the show – is luscious and invigorating.  If you’re one of the chosen you may even join them for a few steps.  When the actor/dancers are in full movement the combination of dance and music are breathtaking.  And never has a long table been used so effectively as both a place to dine and as a performance stage itself.

Director Carubia makes excellent use of his main performance space - a voluminous open chamber that, with clever placement of a few flats and sectioned off areas, becomes many distinct locations inside the manor.  The sensuous lighting and thoughtfully placed sets take a large vacuum of a room and somehow morph it into a doctor’s office, a bedroom, manor house and other areas.  Just enough furniture and prop pieces to suggest the rooms is smart, leaving the manor open to explore, either visually through generally unimpeded sightlines, or by wandering around as you will often be encouraged to do.  Subtle cast suggestions, and even by Carubia himself, along with modest yet effective lighting shifts, steer you to areas of the space you need be in to pick up the key points of the storyline.  The lighting, sets, music, and a well-placed scrim for effective shadow projection, together take you out of 21^st century Los Angeles and to a place far away and long ago.  The music, while a bit loud in the second-floor performance room - where it competes somewhat with the actors’ words - is otherwise moody and well employed to enhance the emotional context of what you are seeing.    

Did Halloween Scene LA love this show?  That too would be an understatement.

Poe-Etique

Rating: 4.75 (of 5)

MiViDa

241 Eads Ave.

Los Angeles, CA 90031

Now thru November 22nd

Tickets: $135 - $185 - $225

In closing, while I’m usually hesitant to recommend a VIP add-on for a show, in this case I think the extra half-hour and added experience make it well worth the upgrade in ticket cost.  And please leave your phone turned off, otherwise in this age of I must film everything for Instagram risks taking away from the illusion of the 19^th century night.