Growing up on the East Coast, going to garage sales was a common pastime for my family. It was common for me to find rare treasures amongst someone else’s junk. Sure, the items I found were often pretty normal; a book, a toy, a record…but sometimes, they contained a window into a person’s past. Perhaps the book contained an inscription from an old friend. Or a note was tucked in the vinyl sleeve, showing a little insight into where it came from. I loved falling into these rabbit holes of someone’s past, and it was always a joy to come across them.

These moments came to me last night when attending CoAct Productions’ debut show THE SIDESHOW. But this garage sale had a bit of a twist to it. A nice young woman named Katelyn was selling some of her recently deceased grandmother’s belongings. While myself and nine other strangers came to look through them, another young man showed up as well. Clutching the ad he had seen in the paper, he was looking for a specific truck of unique origin that it featured. He believed it was his grandfather’s, and he wanted to see what it contained.

I won’t spoil what happens from there, but as a show opening, I was immediately hooked. From there, we were transported into the past, as we fell into the story of Clovis and Nora, two performers from a traveling circus in the 1930s.

Since there was ten audience members, we were split into two groups, with half going with Nora and the other with Clovis, so we could learn their stories. I stuck with Clovis, who wasted no time in revealing how he joined the circus to the begin with, and what his intentions actually were. He enlisted me in helping to show the other members of our group one of his cons, and he had us rolling. In lesser hands, these moments would have made the character seem like a jerk, but Dakota Loesch was incredible, and made Clovis very relatable AND likeable. He absolutely sold the character, and his story. This was definitely one of my favorite performances in recent memory.

While I didn’t spend as much time with Katelyn Schiller’s Nora, she absolutely shined in her role. Taking what is sometimes considered a cliche “poor little rich girl” character, Schiller turned it on its head, and added incredible depth to Nora. The moments spent in her dressing room with my group showed us so much more than we were lead to believe about her. Combine Loesch and Schiller together, and it was a match made in immersive heaven.

Sideshow Clowns

The show itself was incredibly well done overall. It’s not often that two characters can command an entire show in such a way, but THE SIDESHOW delivered immensely here. This wasn’t a “big” story, in the sense of a grand, spiraling narrative. This was an intimate tale about two people, and it was so much more nuanced than I ever could have imagined. Sure, there is a slight supernatural element to it, but at the end of the day, the story feels incredibly personal. I fell in love with these characters, and was impressed how much the story enthralled me. Credit for that goes to writer Nick Rheinwald-Jones, whose words really came alive, and also captured the era well.

As much as I previously raved about the performances, I don’t think that they would have been nearly as great if not for Producer & Director Lyndsie Scoggin. She was able to bring performances from the actors that really made them bring us into the story. Again, because it was such an intimate tale, it really had to draw the audience in, and Scoggin did an excellent job of making sure the actors did just that.

The space was also wonderful, as Artistic Director Danielle Levesque made me believe I was at the circus in the 1930s. Hay littered the floor, with various props and decorations adorned everywhere else. It looked and felt authentic, and I really believed that the rest of the circus was just behind the curtain. Which was no small feat, considering the space isn’t that large in reality. I was incredibly impressed with the transformation of the space,  and can’t commend Levesque more for her incredible work.

From start to finish, THE SIDESHOW is an incredible, intimate piece of immersive theater. The story is enthralling, the acting is top notch, and the set is wonderful. This is one of my top three favorite immersive shows of all time, and I don’t say that lightly. I would tell you to buy tickets for this immediately, but alas, their current run is already sold out. That said, you should definitely visit their site, and sign up for the mailing list, hoping for a remount. Email them, tell them the demand is there!

For more information, visit them online at: https://www.thesideshowla.com/