Review: 1986-6-6
Updated: 6 hours ago
And you thought high school was hell the first time around.
An Immersive Scene Los Angeles review
With a show named “1986-6-6” you can be sure there’s going to be hell to pay sometime during the proceedings. And sure enough, the otherworldly hijinks start happening early in the story and increasingly so as you move deeper into the plot and hallways of the infamous, and thankfully fictional school.
Set in the rockin’ ‘80s and with tongue-planted-firmly-in-cheek, the satire-comedy-horror (definitely in that order) is a season-appropriate hoot — not a scary one per se, but a clever and enjoyable riff on a time and place some of us remember, or, if we weren’t actually there to experience the real decade, think we do from film, television and the all-too-occasional dad story at Thanksgiving.
Welcome to 1986, where you’ve been magically flux-capacitored back to the Reagan years and the curious town of Shady Valley, Illinois. It’s worse than that though — you’re a student again and forced to spend the entire weekend in hell, better known as detention. The classroom you’ll do time in with the nerds, jocks, and rebels of the era, is brightly lit but still somehow eerily appropriate for what’s about to unfold.
It all starts familiar enough (to those of us who might have, ahem, already been acquainted with the detention concept): a lecture or two from a teacher and school administrator and then the disciplinarian gym teacher/coach doling out our punishment via the “write a hundred times what you won’t do again” routine. It’s going to be a long weekend, but not an uneventful one.
Soon, things take a hellish turn as lights flicker, voices from beyond fill the air, and the demeanor of the adults supposedly in charge begins to crack faster than Gordon Gekko’s reputation. It’s maybe also the first time you realize your school mascot is a horned, red-faced demon. Go Devils!
For the next two hours you’ll roam the halls of your nefarious alma mater, trying to stay one step ahead of a satanic onslaught that might not just mean the end of your school, but of your very own survival.
A broad and heavily influenced Myflyian-inspired romp back to the age of spandex, metal and full-sized McNuggets — with an ample dose of B-horror movie underscore — 1986-6-6 wears its satire on its sleeve, as it recalls and reinterprets that time period with ripe parody. From the moment you step into the lobby of the space-time portal “Continuum Cleaners,” all the way through to your inevitable confrontation with the angry red-faced demon downstairs (that would be Beelzebub, not the exasperated gym teacher), you’re trapped, willingly, in the days of bag lunches, backwards lyrics, and oppressive authority figures. But there’s no internet, so that’s a plus.
As “temporal custodial” appointees you’ll follow a Custodian guide, Carla (Dasha Kittredge), back nearly a half century (yep, it’s somehow been that long) to try and save a typical suburban town that’s in real need of it. If you’ve been reading the school newsletter at all (available before you even buy your tix), you’ll already know that one mysterious and disturbing thing after another is happening in this plagued town.
Hell, the rebels in detention are about to lose their homes to a new golf course, the jocks have been yanked from the big game for not doing their homework, and the nerds — well, they’re stuck doing penance for just being different. Can these three disparate groups somehow bond together to stop Shady Valley High from turning into the academic version of The Amityville Horror?
Through a series of challenges, puzzles and tasks, while being guided by a game and ‘80s-vibed cast, 1986-6-6 proves an engaging follow-along experience for its audience of twenty-one guests max. It’s fully immersive and heavily interactive, so get ready to join in…a lot. Once you’ve been geared up and backstory-prepped for the experience, all you need do is embrace your character fully and let your best memories of high-school (whatever the era) steer you through the halls of this odd yet very familiar place.
Familiar, because the set design is a huge star here, creating a multi-classroom and secondary education environment that, while scaled-down in size, still feels legitimately like the real deal. From the detention hall to the locker room – from the science lab to the teacher’s lounge - you might blink to make sure you aren’t really back in the thick of it and worrying about your upcoming SAT. Set decorations, school ephemera, and the absolutely essential Periodic Table of Elements are all present here to sell the illusion. If it weren’t for actually having to go to class, Jeff Spicoli would be very comfortable here.
You’re not only a watcher here, unless you choose to be just that as by claiming “senioritis” status. At Shady Valley you’ll choose your character/student’s name, become that dude or dudette, and follow along through personal assignments and group challenges – many familiar to fans of escape rooms, and some fairly challenging. If you get caught up in the whirlwind of activity, across the two-floor playing space, have no fear. Mom or dad packed you that sack lunch in your backpack with some tasty in-show treats. Only wish they hadn’t written “Do better” on mine as their parental message of inspiration. Hell, what do I care anyway? I’m a chosen rebel, and doing bad is my better.
Director/writer Giz Gewirtz pays beaucoup homage to the decade he lampoons. From Back to the Future to The Breakfast Club to Student Bodies and pretty much every vague memory of that time, the inspirations are clear and not avoided, in fact they’re embraced, and the show is then free to carve its own path, which it does nicely. Between numerous just-under-the-radar jokes and attention to period-authentic details, Gewirtz and co-creator Alan Becker set the table quite effectively for the time travel tale.
Splitting up cast and guests into various rooms simultaneously is what makes it all work. Each clique has its duties and mission in a dedicated space, before moving on to other rooms where the others were just moments before. It’s a timing ballet that works well overall. Then the director brings everyone back together for those uber-important all-hands-on deck moments.
This structure has, of course, been employed before in multi-space shows, but it’s pulled off smoother here than in many and without too much clogging of the pipes – meaning cluttered rooms as groups enter and exit more or less in sync. Gewirtz’s keenest staging choice is in bringing the splinter groups back together in the main detention hall at significant moments to share info, ideas and experiences.
The jokes come fast and furious from the talented cast, who ramp up their midwestern accents and ripely-plucked-from-reality renditions of teachers and staff. These are the people we knew back in the day, just dialed-up to 11 and ready for a gnarly battle to save their school from the lord of the underworld — and you, as guests, from getting misdirected if you wander off course or off-mission during the extended experience.
The modestly-sized ensemble covers a lot of real estate during the show, and work hard to make sure their characters all land with the unique personalities they’ve created (at our show): James Heaney as the gruff disciplinarian Coach, Katey Foley as the trying to be hip for the kids Vice Principal Deacon, Sonja Roden playing the loveable, nerdy science teacher Professor Scott, and especially (to use another '80s trope) the MacGyver of the ensemble, Dasha Kittredge as Carla, who is not only your guide into the past but also a fully-fledged character all her own. Kittredge, a veteran of the immersive scene, might also be considered as a great puzzle-assister if you paint yourself into a corner. Note: The show utilizes about eight actors that rotate through the performances, so you may see an entirely different group than we did at the final preview, or the same cast, but in different roles.
All of the performers are playing archetypes not-unfamiliar from those years, but they’re fleshed-out characters here, not caricatures. Along with their scripted content, there’s substantial improvisational interactions too that are generally nailed by the cast, and by some of the more performer-leaning guests to boot. As importantly, the cast are always keen on getting you to the right place in the story and the right room to see the most important elements.
As has been well-chronicled here at Immersive Scene Los Angeles, aside from crosswords, I am the world’s worst puzzle solver…even more so when half of my assignments here were written in smallish print, and I forgot my glasses. Cast and other guests jump in to help you solve your challenges. And as I found out, unlike in real high school, a rebel can befriend a nerd and even work with a jock for the greater good.
Tech credits are fine but not remarkable. A few lighting effects signal doom encroaching and there are some nice otherworldly touches via TV and cassette players of the era. A visual wow moment never transpired and that would be a real plus for this already strong production. Even without one though, the sets, cast and hidden treats throughout Shady Valley High make this show an absolute recommendation for the spooky season and beyond.
The narrative itself moves fairly briskly, and only feels a bit bogged down for a short bit before the final confrontation with the Big D. Since we saw the final preview of the show, and it was that unabridged version, we imagine a few inches might be trimmed off of the waistline before the show launches again for its official opening on October 1st. However long its running time, 1986-6-6 is a great way to immerse, a retro and wry throwback that brings the horror theme of the season together with a boatload of humor. Wear your sneakers, er, tennis shoes – this is Illinois – and get ready to save the world. With all luck you’ll end up back in 2026, where you’ll instantly realize those high school years weren’t nearly as bad as you thought they were. Rest assured, you can book another trip back in time with a whole new clique and character arc to do it all over again.
8707 Venice Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA
Tix: $99.00
18+ show
Custodial notes: Parking is a real challenge in this neighborhood. The side streets are all permit parking, so don’t do that or you’ll end up with a very real 2026 tow. Arrive early, find a spot on either side of Venice, or find paid parking at the nearby Helms complex on the south side of Venice.
Dress the part. The more you arrive ready to be and look rad the more you’ll enjoy the entire interactive romp. If you feel the need for an '80s hairstyle, they even sell wigs on site.
Before attending, make sure to read the great backstory on the show's website. It will provide you with a lot of insight, which will make the experience even more entertaining.
