In Another Room

‘In Another Room’ is a site-specific immersive play in which guests will wander the upstairs floor of a purportedly haunted house in Los Angeles, coming face to face with various souls that have lived and died and suffered tragedy within its rooms. With only three audience members admitted into the house at a time, the show will be an extremely intimate experience that explores the notion of ghost stories and what is left behind from a life already lived.

 

In Another Room - An Emotional Ghost Story in a Haunted House - E3W Productions - Immersive Theater

 

E3W Productions

‘In Another Room’ is brought to you by E3W Productions, the creative team behind the critically acclaimed indie horror film ‘The House on Pine Street.’ The team is made up of twin brothers Aaron Keeling and Austin Keeling, and Natalie Jones, best friends since middle school. “We’ve always been intrigued by the horror genre and what it has to offer beyond just scares,” explains the team. “While most of our background has been focused on film, ‘In Another Room’ represents an expansion into new and exciting territory, a chance for us to explore our love of ghosts and hauntings and all things eerie in a completely unique way.”

 As their first immersive show, E3W isn’t aiming to break the mold or shake the foundations of the immersive world. Rather, they’ve set out to incorporate some of the many things they love most about these types of shows—intricate set design, intimacy with the performers, world building, telling compelling tales in unique and unusual ways—and meld them into the best version of this story they possibly can. “We love what this show offers, and promise it will satisfy those looking for a memorably eerie evening. It’s a complex space, bursting with so many characters, sounds, details, and emotions, and it promises to give audience members an experience that only immersive theater can deliver.”

 

In Another Room - An Emotional Ghost Story in a Haunted House - E3W Productions - Immersive Theater

 

A Haunting Journey

While ‘In Another Room’ is firmly entrenched in the horror genre and explores themes and settings and atmospheres that are most certainly creepy, the purpose of the show is not to scare the audience. “We love haunted houses and ghost stories, and we wanted to take the framework for those types of narratives and mine them for something more than just scare value. We wanted to push past the initial fear associated with ghosts and get to their emotional core, exploring the tragedies and dramas that led them to where they are now.” They further explain that the overall tone is eerie and spooky, and the show fits within the broader horror spectrum (it is set in a haunted house, after all). Audience members may be touched lightly, and experience tight spaces, moments of darkness, loud noises, and unsettling themes. But the goal is not to frighten or shock. ‘In Another Room’ is a theatrical experience, which they hope will take the audience on an emotional, thought-provoking, and (of course) haunting journey.

 Part of the fun of any immersive experience is discovering the rules of the world and your place within it as an audience member. Thus, we don’t want to give too much away regarding the format of ‘In Another Room’. However, the creators do inform us that this is definitely more of a spectator performance. “We want to give the audience a peek into these wonderful characters’ worlds, with a focus on creating richly detailed, highly immersive environments.” They continue, “That’s not to say the audience will always just be sitting on the sidelines, observing. Each room is different, and the audience’s role and level of immersion from space to space will shift and fluctuate along the way.”

 

In Another Room - An Emotional Ghost Story in a Haunted House - E3W Productions - Immersive Theater 

A More Human Ghost Story

“We have always been interested in haunted places. Being from the Midwest, we were surrounded by old houses, many of them over a century old.” Aaron and Austin explain that they believe the house they grew up in was haunted: they experienced many unexplainable things while living there. These childhood memories helped cement a love for haunted houses and placed them at the forefront of their interests.

“We love ghost stories, we love movies and books about haunted places, and we’re always questioning what makes a house haunted, what ghosts are and why they linger in particular spots. However, we find more often than not, particularly in today’s culture, that ghost stories are told primarily for scare factor. Take a look at most any recent film about haunted houses and notice how things tend to go a bit overboard by the end, with the story usually devolving to an all out shock fest of cheap thrills and jump scares. We’re much more interested in the human stories that inform tales of ghosts – who were these people, what where their lives like, what happened to them and why are they still here? Ghost stories are scary, yes, but they’re also frequently quite tragic. They are tales of love and loss and regret, tales of mistakes and accidents and the things undone, the things left unfinished. These aspects of ghost stories are what inspired and informed ‘In Another Room.’ There are moments in the narrative in which you will be afraid, but there is so much more going on in this house.”

 

In Another Room - An Emotional Ghost Story in a Haunted House - E3W Productions - Immersive Theater

 

An Art Direction to Die For

With such a striking and stunning imagery aesthetic, In Another Room quickly garnered the attention of all who found their Instagram. The creative team tell us of their work with their art director, Patrick Blanchard, who flew in from Seattle to spend some time in the house and create the images for our Instagram. “We knew starting this project that we wanted a striking and captivating aesthetic throughout the entire experience, both within the house and also in all of our promotional material. We discussed starting our Instagram from many different angles, but decided on the viewpoint of Morrow, a character obsessed with the house and the paranormal tales that surround it.”

They explain that Morrow was the last occupant of the house before E3W gained access and began asking for volunteers to visit in August; it felt natural to start the story by introducing this character. “It was also a great opportunity for us to tease the house, its history, and the way it affects those who step inside its rooms. Patrick did an amazing job capturing the fear, the confusion, the despair and regret inside the house, as well as the madness that threatens to consume those step inside.” They also tease that the aesthetic, storytelling, and attention to detail you see in the Instagram is being carried over into the design of the house as well. They are very excited for people to see all the hard work they’ve put into this.

 

In Another Room - An Emotional Ghost Story in a Haunted House - E3W Productions - Immersive Theater

 

Paranormal Investigations

Despite all the details in the imagery, the creators tell us that there are no puzzles to solve regarding ‘In Another Room’. Morrow’s research on the house is extensive, especially the comprehensive death list compiled in the Official Record of Reported Incidents—and thus, there may be some Easter Eggs to note inside if you study the Instagram well. “It is difficult to predict what one may experience when entering a purportedly haunted space, but it is very likely that our volunteers will make contact with a number of these souls within the walls of the house.”

When asked specifically about Mr. Morrow, the creators simply stated, “We do not personally know W. Morrow.” They shared a little more with us as we pressed for more information: as a paranormal enthusiast, Morrow amassed a great deal of valuable research during an extended stay in the home. It is unfortunate what ultimately happened during this visit, and the owner, Ms. Richardson, was very apprehensive to allow our team into the house so shortly after Morrow’s abrupt vacancy. But E3W are not new to paranormal investigations. Morrow was dedicated and thorough, but ultimately an inexperienced novice. E3W can assure all volunteers that they will be entering the house under the safest of circumstances.

 

In Another Room - An Emotional Ghost Story in a Haunted House - E3W Productions - Immersive Theater

 

Inside a Haunted House

“We loved the idea of a house as comprised of distinctly separate rooms – a collection of compartments that each contain a unique world to discover. Ghost stories are inherently short in nature, and the idea of breaking a larger theatrical piece into smaller, separate sections seemed like the natural way to go about telling this story.” In this story, each room will reflect the characters residing within them, with different time periods, tragedies, themes and emotions explored throughout. Much like a house is a collection of rooms, we see ‘In Another Room’ as a collection of separate ghost stories that combine to create a whole bigger than the sum of its parts.   

 “We hope that our audience will enjoy exploring the house and learning about the many souls that have passed through its rooms. We hope that our different take on the haunted house is a breath of fresh air and that our guests come away having been emotionally impacted by the experience. But most of all, just as we have been after going through some of our favorite immersive experiences, we hope our audience leaves the show with a slightly altered view of the world and their place within it. We’re not setting out to change the world, but we do hope the visit to the house will linger with our guests long after they’ve left…”

 E3W is proud to announce that ‘In Another Room’ has officially sold out. But if this interview interests anyone and they want a ticket, please email E3W Productions (e3wproductions@gmail.com) to be added to a mailing list to be notified of any additional spots that open up.

All that remains after a life has been lived are the ghost stories.

For more updates and information on E3W Productions and ‘In Another Room’, follow ‘In Another Room’ on Instagram here.

E3W Productions Interviews