ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — A new theater company has emerged in Asheville from beyond the veil. Phantom Lamp Theatre Company will bring their first show, “Close Encounters,” an original play by local playwright Abby Auman, to the stage for two weekends, Feb. 20 to March 1.
Find tickets to “Close Encounters” here.
Holding a light to Phantom Lamp
Phantom Lamp was founded by Abby Auman, Jess Johnson, Katie Jones, Jason Phillips and Quinn Terry as a theater collective dedicated to producing new, site-specific productions. “Close Encounters,” for example, will be staged inside of Lamplight AVL, a revolving performing arts space in West Asheville, while the next show will be somewhere else entirely.
“We’re trying to do site-specific shows so that, really, it’s like you have to be here right now to see this, because you’re gonna see it now and you’re probably never gonna see it again. It’s just about that immediacy,” Jones said. “There’s just a constant loop of memes and videos and all this stuff in your face all the time, and we thought, well, what if we came together for a reason that’s joyful and fun? And then you have to commune with people in real life instead of on the internet? No shade, you know, to the internet, but also, like, real life is cool. We like it.”
In their shows, Phantom Lamp works hard to bring audiences something they have never seen before.
“The new work aspect is always really important to us and being able to develop things as a team,” said Johnson.
“Close Encounters” is a prime example of a collaborative Phantom Lamp show. The production is part-scripted, part-improvised, bringing its actors in on the character of the performance every night. Furthermore, the audience is brought in on the action, too. The show follows a couple who have recently moved into a haunted apartment, with ghosts played by Phantom Lamp actors.
The catch?
“All of the audience members are also ghosts. So, the living people can’t see any of us, and can’t see them, and the idea is that the ghosts have recruited us to help haunt these people out of their apartment. That’s the basic business,” said Jones. “But, in terms of the interaction, it’s way less dictated because we’re giving audience members the freedom.”
For example, if a member of the audience wants to get a better view of part of the immersive set – Lamplight AVL has been refashioned as the couple’s apartment, lacking much in the way of traditional stage seating – they will be treated by the other actors as a “ghost” moving across the room.
“If you, you know, want to go haunt in this corner, you can. If you want to be over here, you’re going to be over here,” Jones explained. “Then, there will be times where we have a character called the Ghost Bouncer, who is gonna be like, okay, everybody sit down.”
“We are going to offer a few seats for folks that like want to just see the show and don’t want to be engaged,” clarified Johnson. “We will have a few chairs set up somewhere in here in probably one or two different spots where [the actors] can be like, all right, they’re sitting in the green chair. That means we don’t bother them.”
For the record, Jones and Johnson swore it was just a coincidence that the first show Phantom Lamp produced was a ghost story at a venue named “Lamplight.”
“It really felt universally aligned,” Jones said.
Staging such a dynamic, intimate sort of show would be difficult for many theater companies, but according to Jones and Johnson, the cast and crew of “Close Encounters” have learned to rely on each other.
“You have to make decisions quickly and just trust each other that it’s gonna be fine. Lots of places wouldn’t do it like this, but we do,” Jones laughed.
“And it works!” Johnson added. “That is such a great way to put it. Like, you just have to make a quick decision and trust each other. I think we’re so lucky that we have the group that we have.”
Tickets for “Close Encounters” are on sale now at www.phantomlamptheatrecompany.com/upcoming.