Within the walls of The OOA Institute, many tried to tell their stories. Some hid them in notes or letters, hoping others would find them. Others desperately pressed scraps of paper into visitor’s hands. Some even screamed them out loud. But their words never reached the outside… until now.
The OOA Institute was a mysterious organization which served as the focal point for a part-immersive theater, part-alternative reality game called The Tension Experience. Over a 7-month ARG named Indoctrination, and later in a live show named Ascension, participants uncovered the secrets of the OOA and revealed its sinister practices. At the final, bloody, finale, it was revealed that the entire OOA was false, a setup for a much darker organization named ODSM. Only two characters survived this event: actress Sabrina Kearn and ODSM radical Michelle… the rest lay dead within the compound.
I was approached recently by Kimberly Stewart, long-time participant in The Tension Experience. On her last visit to the OOA compound, she had managed to recover some lost materials, and wished to share with me the story they told (Image Gallery below). I gladly accepted, and Kimberly’s story is as follows:
“Yesterday, I returned home. Not the home of my childhood, but the home I discovered just this year, inside the vast world of The Tension Experience’s OOA Institute. Those of you who know me might be tilting your head in confusion right now. My home? The OOA Institute? Yes, I am the original traitor, a detractor, the one who led a rebellion against the inhumanities of what I perceived as a dangerous cult, and yet re-entering it’s walls did feel exactly like coming home. Why, you might ask. The answer is simple. I was surrounded by the love and friendship of a small but vital sampling of my friends, my people, the community we had formed. Those who experienced it all first hand, with me, right from the start. We didn’t always agree, some of the discussions became heated, but with a little sincerity fences were always mended. This describes just about every family that ever existed, and family is what we are. We are an extended community built on a once in a lifetime experience. We are the best outcome of a grand experiment in immersive theater.
Let me tell you what happened while we were inside the OOA compound. At first, it was jarring to see everything in the light of day. The blood of atrocities witnessed were still splattered on the walls and the floors, but the small signs of humanity and immense beauty were also there if you looked hard enough. We laughed a lot, hugged a lot, and reminisced a lot. We also peeked in drawers, books, on shelves, under couches, and we found things. Did you think we wouldn’t? I’d like to share with you some of the treasures uncovered. The notes you are about to read represent a very small portion of the story of those who lived and died within The OOA Institute.”
-Kimberly Stewart
Although The Tension Experience is now complete, the OSDM proudly presents The Lust Experience coming in 2017. You can sign up for their mailing list now.
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Since preparing this article, we have learned the letters featured in this article were imagined and handwritten by Ascension cast/crew members, Erika Quintana and Emilie Autumn. Thank you, Emilie and Erika, for the parts you’ve played in creating something so beautiful and heartbreaking.
