Sanction, A Journey into Perfection

I responded to Sanction’s ad asking if I wanted to achieve perfection. I did. So I arrived at their clinic in Los Angeles.

The waiting room was a simple area with one couch, a television playing a welcome video for Sanction, and various all white furnishings–including the top half of a mannequin. An unassuming girl introduces herself, tells me she has been waiting for her appointment for over twenty minutes, and acquaints me with the room. She’s friendly, inquisitive, and very knowledgeable about immersive theater. It’s very apparent that she is a plant (an actress) put here to keep me engaged and to not let me focus on anything too long. As I begin to settle in, the door opens and the nurse walks in. She’s atypically dressed. More of a sexy secretary look–a  pencil skirt, a carefully unbuttoned blouse revealing cleavage, and a scarf around her neck.

“Well aren’t you a greasy motherfucker?”

She says this unapologetically. I felt a little bit of shock, but also wanted to laugh. She looks at the girl next me. “Put your fucking shoes back on, you whore. I can smell you from the next room” She asks me for my ID, takes it, and promptly leaves. The need to laugh wins, and both the plant and I start laughing. The girl asks me if I can believe that the nurse just said that–what kind of place is this? The contrast between the serious nurse and the lighthearted girl played well against each other. But just as we started to settle into a conversation again, the nurse returned. She hikes up her skirt revealing a sexy lingerie garter belt and straddled me on the couch.

“You have a pedophile’s name. Taylor Michael Winters. Are you a pedophile, Taylor? Do you like to fuck little boys?”

I again notice the girl next to me laughing and I laugh too at the crude absurdity of her questions. The nurse pays no attention to this. She hands me a waiver and asks me to sign it and leaves the room a second time. I try to read it over, but the plant keeps trying to engage me in conversation. The nurse returns for the third time–and is angered by the fact that I didn’t fill out a questionnaire hidden below the waiver.  She decides to motivate me to finish–she takes off her scarf and wraps it around my neck pulling it tight. She instructs me to write, and anytime I pause to think she pulls it tighter, preventing me from breathing. I answer questions about my family, my background, and list out three physical and mental things I would like to change about myself.

After finishing the waiver, I am escorted into a hospital room–a gorgeous set with actual medical equipment, a real hospital bed, and plants and a chair to complete the decor. The doctor enters, another overtly sexualized stereotype of a woman–lab coat unbuttoned with nothing but a bra revealing perky breasts underneath. She asks me to remove my shirt to prepare for my physical. Taking cues from science fiction, she begins to tell me about a serum, which when applied, can change anything I want about myself. If I’m ready, I can achieve perfection. I am given a pill and asked if I’m ready.

Sanction is an experience that is constantly shifting tone. In the first room, I was surrounded by the brutally honest and critical nurse who demanded perfection and the jovial and warm couch girl who cracked jokes at her. The sterile whites and medical environment quickly transitioned into a high-speed ride throughout the facility. Each element of criticism or horror was juxtaposed with humor or ridiculousness. This is best demonstrated by a singular character who in a single breath praised me for how great I was doing then abruptly changed personas and berated me loudly. This duality created some true moments of uneasiness and some really entertaining and fun moments. However, this also prevented me from truly feeling uneasy. There were no points of self-reflection. The ideas of sexuality and the perfect person was thrust in front of me, but it did not impact me because of a disconnect between rooms and the narrative. Anytime the tone was getting too serious and I started to feel uncomfortable, a joke or an over-the-top character distracted me from the message.

A few other detractions must also be pointed out. The advertising is beautiful. It’s sleek, clean, medical–almost reminiscent of other haunt’s imagery. However, the imagery did not match the actual experience. Moreover, the experience was advertised to be an hour long. The actual experience was closer to 35-45 minutes depending on the participant. A few quick edits to advertising materials can set expectations for the audience that will provide more of a connection when they enter the walls of Sanction.

However, despite the constructive criticism above, Sanction was fun. It was the constant ridiculousness and silliness that made it fun. The characters were caricatures of medical professionals, but this made them more fun to banter with. The high-speed ride was easily one of the most entertaining experiences I’ve had recently. And the ending was uncomfortable enough to elicit a fear response in me. If you can look past the insults and inconsistent tone, it really is an entertaining first year haunt with room to grow. If I could offer one suggestion for Sanction’s future shows: maintain a singular tone and push the boundaries to make your audience feel something real. Don’t rely on crude insults, unbalanced sexual stereotypes, and yelling to instill unease and fear. Instead create an cohesive atmosphere through your narrative, set design, and interactions and continue it throughout. Give the participant a moment to connect to the narrative and make a statement on the idea of a perfect person. It did not achieve perfection for me, but implementing a few of these improvements will make Sanction: Phase Two an applauded experience.

Phase One does return for one night only, December 27th. Check the website or facebook for Appointment Times coming soon!