Tippy Hoop - XXXX, 2 scientists

• The mutant will already be on stage, contained within the apparatus, or restrained, prior to the Rifle Toss, in place for this trial.

• At the very beginning, two scientists (Erica and Danielle?) are checking on the mutant and the apparatus, checking her vitals, etc, making notes and ensuring that the apparatus is prepared for the trial.

• The mutant does their act: details TBD

• While the mutant performs, Danielle is UR, UC, or UL, in front of the screen or TVs, out of the spotlight, observing the mutant and taking notes.

  • If Erica is not actively involved in the trial, they would join Danielle and observe/take notes as well–but this depends on how involved Erica is once the trial starts.

  • If Erica is actively involved in the trial, they can adjust the speed and or direction of the hoop.

    • If this does happen, the mutant should look at the scientist after they have left the hoop for the test to continue. This helps to plant the seed that they are paying attention to how they are being tested.

• The mutant survives and is taken offstage with some resistance by Erica and Danielle, backstage (to the laboratory).

  • This doesn't need to be a successful trial, the mutant can fail the testing, if need be.

Background Activity:

• Throughout scientists are monitoring their mutants off stage, not watching XXXX's performance.

  • They could be checking for pulses, shining a light into eyes, checking on breathing, checking on restraints, looking at clipboard and recording observations, comparing current observations to previous notes, adjusting restraints, conferring with each other.

  • If something in particular happens during XXXX's trial, the scientists could observe the audience's reaction and make notes, which keeps the audience feeling like they're part of the oversight process.

  • They could confer with each other about the status of their respective mutants.

  • At one moment, the scientists check Holly's restraints and then leave.

    • Holly obviously looks at the restraints and intensely watches what the scientists are doing–she is paying attention.

Mutants status: Survival - XXXX survives. The procedure works. The scientists get the result they expected.
Scientist status: We have the mutants under control.
Soldier status: There is no danger to the Oversight Committee.

Music: Live?

Rigging: Pulley needed??

Soldier count: 6 (+1 is stationed out of view)
Soldiers missing: 0

Message to audience: The system works. Things are under control. The scientists understand the mutants while the soldiers can control them. The audience is protected.

Dance Trapeze – Jenny

• Jenny prepares the dance trapeze for the upcoming Nona + Ashley trial. She conducts a meticulous pre-test inspection, checking the apparatus, rigging points, height, tension, positioning and surrounding test area. She documents the measurements and makes minor adjustments before signaling that the apparatus is ready.

• This routine is clinical and confident. This is not a circus performer preparing equipment—it is a scientist preparing an experimental instrument.

• Trapeze needs to be in place and read for the next act.

Background activity:

• Holly is paying attention to Jenny’s act.

• Scientists are monitoring Mae, Mindy, and Holly throughout the act.

Mutant status: Mutants continue to be under control.
Scientist status: This act is a demonstration of our control. We know exactly what we are doing.
Soldier status: There is no danger to the Oversight Committee (audience).

Music: https://open.spotify.com/track/6FnlBv9MsDDc6eMC5h4a1g

Rigging: Jenny will attach the trapeze to the working point as part of the routine.
Pulley needed (TBD at anchor point)

Soldier count: 6 (1 is stationed out of view)
Soldiers not at their station/missing: 0

Message to audience: The system works. Things are under control. The scientists understand the mutants while the soldiers can control them. The audience is protected.

Duo Dance Trapeze - Nona + Ashley

Conjoined twins are forcibly brought from the laboratory onto the stage for testing.

• Jenny, who has prepared the trapeze for Nona + Ashley and is on stage, ready to observe and take notes.

• Nona and Ashley are escorted on stage by Kerri (+ her pet, Keith). The twins somewhat resist but ultimately comply.

• Kerri + Jenny check the twins' vitals and prepare them for the experiment.

• The Jenny and Kerri forcibly pull Nona and Ashley apart. If the separation becomes too difficult, Keith assists (whichever works best for Jenny, Kerri, Keith, Nona, + Ashley.)

• The separation is disturbing and torturous to witness. The twins are shocked, angry, frightened, and visibly traumatized by being separated.

• The scientists remain clinically detached. Once the separation is complete, they immediately check the twins' vitals, confer with one another, observe their condition, and record their findings.

• The scientists believe separation is a solution. They think, 'if we separate the organism, we can study each component independently". By the end of this experiment, this assumption will be proven wrong.

• Nona and Ashley begin their test on the trapeze. All scientists go to the UR, UC, or UL, in front of the screen or TVs, out of the spotlight, observing the twins and taking notes.

• Ashley deteriorates as the test progresses. She becomes increasingly weak and, at times, appears close to falling or collapsing from the trapeze.

• When Ashley begins to fail/fall, the scientists intervene and force her back into the test, using acrobatic movement as part of the procedure.

• The scientists continue to observe and document Ashley's deterioration rather than respond emotionally to the twins' distress. Nona is paying attention to how the facility reacts when a subject becomes unstable.

• Near the end, when Ashley can no longer continue and is off the trapeze, Dr. Death appears, with Joe, from the rigging anchor point/pulley. He quickly examines Ashley; he and Joe place Ashley onto the army gurney and they take her to the edge of the stage. Kerri directs Keith to put Ashley over his shoulder. Keith + Ashely, Dr. Death, and Jow all go back to the laboratory (backstage).

  • Nona watches how the scientists examine and then remove Ashley.

  • Holly watches the scientists and soldiers, a parallel to Nona. Reinforcing that the mutants are curious, watching, and learning.

• Nona becomes increasingly agitated, going mad, nearly getting away from the scientists before being detained and taken backstage to the laboratory by Kerri and Jenny.

• Nona's reaction is not just rage, she's learning. She is beginning to understand that the scientists' procedures can be turned against them. She is learning something about the people controlling her.

Background Activity:

• At a predetermined cue, scientists, are preparing the lyra for Mae's upcoming trial.

• Their preparation is clinical and procedural

• They do not watch the trapeze act continuously. They are working on the next experiment.

• When Ashley's condition deteriorates, scientists who are monitoring Mae and Mindy may briefly look toward the trial before returning to their preparation.

Music: Prerecorded

Rigging: Jenny has rigged the trapeze at the working point during her act.
Pulley Needed.
Jenny removes the apparatus from the working point at the end of their act.

Soldier count: 6 (+1 out of view)
Soldiers not at their station/missing: 0

Message to audience: Things are just starting to get out of control. The mutants are beginning to learn how the system works.

Lyra/Aerial Hoop – Mae

Mae is the next subject brought forward for testing. The scientists believe they are repeating a familiar procedure and expect the test to proceed as it has before.

• Mae is taken out of the dog kennel, restrained and led to the stage by two scientists, while another is preparing the lyra for Mae.

• The two scientists who took Mae from the kennel check her vitals and make notes.

• For the scientists, this begins routine and clinical, they behave as though they know exactly what is going to happen.

• Mae watches the scientists closely.

• Mae performs the test. Scientists go to the UR, UC, or UL, in front of the screen or TVs, out of the spotlight, observing Mae's movements and taking notes.

• At the end of her act, Mae anticipates that the restraints are coming and nearly escapes from two scientists but is apprehended by a soldier or two and escorted to the laboratory backstage. Erica observes and notes.

  • This is the first crack in the soldier defense.

• Mae isn't merely discovering that she is strong, but that she is understands the procedure.

Background Activity:

• At a predetermined cue, 2 scientists prepare the transparent hammock for Mindy's upcoming test.

  • Their preparation is clinical and procedural: checking the apparatus, preparing Mindy.

• At first, the scientists do not continuously watch Mae's test. They become interested in Mae's act as it progresses, as they understand something is happening with Mae. Their attention shifts between preparing for Mindy's trial and monitoring Holly.

  • At one point, Holly tests the strength of the restraints, not enough to escape, but to test it. One of the scientists notices and adjusts them; Holly stops. As soon as the scientist’s back is turned, Holly tests it again. She is testing the containment.

• At the end of Mae's act, two scientists remove Holly's restraints and take her backstage to the lab without explanation. The audience may not know whether she is being returned because she is finished or if something else is happening, although it should reinforce this is a functioning research facility whose procedures make sense to the people running it.

Mutant status: Anticipation–Mae knows what is coming.
Scientist status: The scientists have recognized that something has changed. They still believe they understand the situation and control it.  
Soldier status: The security system has its first visible crack. Two soldiers must leave their posts momentarily to assist with Mae's containment, but the remaining soldiers continue to project confidence and maintain their positions. The Oversight Committee remains protected.

Music: Live

(By the end of the act)
Soldier count: 4 (+1 out of view)
Soldiers not at their station/missing: 2

Message to audience: Things are just starting to get out of control. The mutants are adapting faster than we're adapting to them.

Transparent Hammock - Mindy

• Mindy is brought on stage by 2 scientists appearing extremely weak and close to death. She wears a gas mask because she is unable to breathe the facility’s atmosphere.

• The two soldiers who took Mae to the lab return to their posts while Mindy is brought on stage and the hammock is being prepared for her.

• Rebecca prepares the transparent hammock, takes Mindy's vitals, and records observations for the trial. A gurney is brought back onstage, into position by another scientist, anticipating that Mindy will not survive, that she will suffocate and die during the trial.

• Possible suffocation is the horror element.

• Once Mindy is secured in the hammock, Rebecca ‘rips off’ her gas mask, exposing her to the atmosphere.

• Mindy performs her act, with her movements becoming increasingly violent and desperate as she struggles to breathe, appearing to fight against suffocation.

  • Dr. Death appears, lurking where the mutants were staged.

• Her movements eventually slow until she becomes almost completely motionless.

• The scientists believe she has died and confer with each other. Dr. Death goes on stage, and approaches Mindy.

  • Suddenly, Mindy begins to twitch. She takes a deep breath.

• Her breathing returns. She begins to move again, increasing in strength and control.

• Mindy has adapted.

  • Dr. Death decides to take the gurney and leave returning backstage to the laboratory.

• The adaptation is not simple recovery; she is now stronger and increasingly difficult to control.

• Mindy becomes frantic and fights to escape the testing area. She is out of control, doing whatever she can to escape the trial.

• She nearly escapes, when two soldiers (Goldie and Shawn) restrain her and force her back into the lab backstage.

Mutant status: Adaptation–Mindy has adapted, evolved.
Scientist status: Scientists are confused and curious by Mindy’s adaptation. They wonder, “Is this just an anomaly?”
Soldier status: The security system is strained. Two soldiers have left the facility with Mindy, leaving the Oversight Committee less protected than before. The remaining soldiers know something is changing, but they maintain discipline and project confidence. The Soldier March (next) is their attempt to demonstrate that the situation remains under control.

Music: Live

Rigging: No pulley needed.

Message to audience: The infected are adapting, not merely surviving. The scientists are learning about the mutants, and the mutants are learning things about the scientists. The tests are teaching them.

Soldier March - Amy, Shawn, Goldie, Michelle, Max, Emily, and Ryan

Once the scientists are in position (see "background activity" below) and those soldiers who have been backstage have rejoined the soldiers and are in position, that is the cue to begin the act.

• Soldiers move through aisles and perimeter in precise synchronized patterns:

  • Turn → Scan → Step → Rotate → Cross

• Everything is synchronized, predictable, and controlled. A ceremonial drill team mixed with tactical movement.

At the end of the act, Max leaves the view of the audience and returns backstage.

Background activity:

Three scientists methodically and briskly walk to the stage once Mindy has been "restrained" backstage in the laboratory (at a predetermined cue). They meet two other scientists, UC, in front of the screen to confer about what has just happened with Mindy. They are confused and are trying to understand, they are trying to convince themselves that everything is still under control. Their body language is tense and confused, but they are not fearful.

At a predetermined cue during the Soldier March, Joe enters on stage and motions/speaks to another scientist that she is needed backstage to the laboratory. she leaves. He joins the others to prepare for the next trial.

Mutant status: The mutants have seen and learned that the facility can be pushed beyond limits and they are ready to take control
Scientist status: Scientists have convinced themselves that Mindy's act is an anomaly, worth studying further after the Oversight Committee has left. They are ready to proceed with the next act.
Soldier status: The security system has been proven to be cracked and strained, and the soldiers want the Oversight Committee to be reassured that they have everything under control.

Music: Recorded

(By the end of the act)
Soldier count: 6 (+1 is out of view)
Soldiers not at their station/missing: 0

Message to audience: Audience is protected and watched.

A refrigerator/stasis unit has within it an organism that the scientists have created, an organism created from other mutants.

• Soldiers have returned to position having just finished the Soldier March, projecting absolute control.

• Two other scientists and Joe are on stage. One of them opens the stasis unit/refrigerator.

• At first nothing happens. The scientists wait. Then, the blob emerges.

• The blob does it's act - details TBD

• At a specific cue, Joe approaches the blob to examine it. He uses the reflex hammer, tries to use the stethoscope, etc. and takes notes. Something specific (TBD) he uses, causes the blob to stretch and the blob's membrane breaks. The mutant inside kills Joe.

• Soldiers’ reaction to Joe's death:

  • Weapons go up. They surround the perimeter of the stage to protect the Oversight Committee.

• Scientists reaction:

  • Two more from back stage scramble back to the stage.

  • All of the scientists try to get the bob back into containment.

• The organism (or the performers who have emerged from the blob) retreat back to the refrigerator or scramble off stage (?) TBD

• One of the mutants, before leaving, rips down the insignia banner hanging in front of the screen.

• The scientists chase after the mutants backstage to the laboratory.

This is when the rules change. This is when the mutants decide, "We’re no longer participating in your trials. We're taking control of it.”

Background Activity:

Scientists and Joe are UC, in front of the stage, observing, conferring with each other, and taking notes at the beginning of the act.

Music: Live

Blackout? (James and Elise: Does this work with your lighting design?)

Soldier count: 6 (+1 out of view)
Soldiers not at their station/missing: 0

Message to audience: The system is breaking down. Tables are turning.

Intermission is a bridge between two facilities, two worlds. By the end of the show:

• ·The audience who began as the Oversight Committee, will become potential test subjects.

• Scientists who began as researchers will become trial subjects.

• Soldiers who were once protectors will become prey.

• Mutants who were once test subjects become the experimenters, these prisoners become the researchers, and the laboratory becomes their territory.

Beginning of intermission:

Two soldiers remove the dead scientist with the gurney and do not return. Missing personnel are not explained.

Soldier count: 4 (+1 out of view)
Soldiers not at their station/missing: 2

Message to audience: We are becoming exposed.

Middle of intermission:

• Strange silhouettes suggest that there are many more infected than those being tested on in Part 1.

• Breathing and strange noises are heard from behind curtains and under the stage. The audience can see movement behind curtains.

• Mutants slowly start to creep out from behind curtains along the perimeter.

• A soldier (Shawn) moves into position on top of the kitchen.

• At the end of this portion of intermission. Michelle who is in front of the stage, is pulled under the stage by something.

  • Amy noticed what has happened.

(Once Shawn is on the kitchen)
Soldier count: 2 on the ground, 1 on the kitchen (+1 out of view)
Soldiers not at their station/missing: 3

Message to audience: There are many more mutants than the ones we've been watching. This is the "how many of them are here?" moment.

Remaining soldiers attempt to maintain the audience perimeter.

Near the end of intermission:

• As the Mutants are gathering the pole, Amy finds Emily to confer with what happened to Michelle.

  • Amy leaves to go into the backstage to the laboratory, not to return.

• The Chinese Pole is raised by the mutants.

• Mutants gather around it and perform a culty, breathing exercise around the pole.

• The soldier on the kitchen (Shawn) fires a gun, mutants scatter. The last two soldiers move throughout the space continuing to position themselves between mutants and audience.

Rigging of Chinese Pole: Nona, RJ, Holly, Keith, Jenna, Kate

Soldier count: 1 on the ground, 1 on the kitchen (Shawn); 1 is out of view
Soldiers not at their station/missing: 3

Audience returns from intermission to a facility that is less controlled. Michelle and Amy are no longer visible. Their disappearance is unexplained.

The audience has returned from intermission and something feels wrong. The system is falling apart; the environment has changed:

• The Facility No 4 banner is gone.

• Lighting is different. It's less clinical, more colorful.

• Mutants are occupying spaces previously controlled by soldiers.

• Scientists are missing.

• The last 3 soldiers in view (2 on the ground and 1 on the kitchen) are trying to restore order.

  • They are trying to keep the audience together.

The act begins when a scientist comes on stage to speak with a soldier.

• As they are speaking, they keep looking behind them, as if they heard something from behind the screen. They ignore it and continue to chat.

• A mutant has entered the kitchen.

• The soldier on top of the kitchen (Shawn) is visibly struggling to pull/keep himself on top of the kitchen, there is something trying to pull him down.

  • He continues to struggle, to literally save his life.

  • The soldier and scientist are watching, stunned at what is happening in the kitchen area.

  • He is pulled down. He screams. Then his screams are muffled.

  • There is silence.

  • The mutant emerges covered in blood.

• Immediately after, the soldier and scientist in front of the screen are pulled through it. No prolonged struggle, They are just gone.

Give it a beat for the audience to register the loss.

The mutants now have appropriated the facility. They emerge from behind the screen to use and occupy the space. Unlike the rifle toss during the pre-show, which is an act to symbolize the skills of the soldiers, the mutants are demonstrating that they can and will use the environment.

Music: Recorded

Message to audience: The mutants haven't simply learned how to use the facility. They've learned what the facility does. Now they are going to use it on us.

Chinese Pole - Holly + Max

• Max isn't fully scared yet. Holly is testing out how it feels to be in charge and torturing/testing Max.

• Max is trying to escape.

• As the act progresses, Holly gets more and more agressive and unhinged. Max gets more subdued as he gets tossed around.

• In the beginning, they do a synchronized, circling climb very slowly as they stare at each othe and silently have a power battle, until they reach the top. Holly slams Max into the pole/push him down to demonstrate that she is now, in fact in charge.

Music: Live

Rigging: Chinese Pole has already been raised during intermission.
The same team takes down the pole and removes it off stage (Nona, RJ, Holly, Keith, Jenna, Kate).

Message to audience: The power has changed hands. The people who once controlled the subjects are now vulnerable to them.

Ladder - Erica, Mae + XXX

The mutants have selected a human test subject for experimentation.

• Erica is chased/forced onto the ladder. Initially they attempt to maintain their dignity and composure, treating the situation as if they are still a person rather than a test subject.

• As the act progresses, the mutants increasingly destabilize the apparatus and approach Erica, causing their controlled demeanor to deteriorate into fear.

• The mutants are beginning to apply what they have learned from the lab's previous experiments, spinning and rocking the ladder mimicking the movement of the tippy hoop.

  • The mutants are replicating a test that they've seen.

• A tarp and cooler are brought out and positioned beneath the ladder.

• XXX and Mae prepare the area, suggesting that they have anticipated the outcome of the experiment.

• Erica is ultimately disemboweled and killed. Their remains are collected by the mutants and removed from the trial area.

• The apparatus and testing area are cleared as though the experiment has been completed.

• The ladder experiment should feel less like "Mutants are angry with a scientist", and more like, "The mutants are now conducting very disturbing, maniacal, torturous experiments".

Music: Live

Message to audience: The mutants are no longer reacting to their treatment or acting out of individual retaliation. They have learned the method of the laboratory. The subjects have become the experimenters.

Tubes inserted into the mouths of scientists - Kerri, Kaity, Xi, Danielle, and Jenny

• Nona, Ashley and Mindy force a small group of scientists who are connected to each other by a tube going into/coming out of their mouths.

• Nona + Ashley are thinking, "Let's see what happens when we force you together." Mindy is thinking, "It's your turn to have your breathing tested."

• Confused and terrified, the scientists perform a synchronized act.

  • One of the scientists rips out the tube (with some bloody entrails attached to it) and tries to escape.

  • That scientist is killed using the tube from the blood pressure cuff.

• After their death, the mutants force the scientists backstage to the laboratory.

Music: Recorded, https://open.spotify.com/track/5OobmB22vzrpmKfnguqxag

Message to the audience: The mutants are using the scientists' methods on the scientists.

Aerial Umbrella - Rebecca + Mindy

The mutants have selected a human test subject for experimentation on the aerial umbrella.

• Mindy reemerges with a fellow mutant and another test subject, Rebecca.

• Rebecca is placed on the apparatus. Mindy and another mutant "operate" it.

  • Mindy starts to ask her own questions rather than copying previously done tests.

    • What if I do this? What if I do that?

    • How much rotation can this scientist take?

    • Maybe they start gently and adjust to increase the momentum or rotation?

• Act details to come.

Music: Live

A mutated tube organism enters from an aisle and climbs the stairs onto the stage.

• It moves slowly, around the stage, allowing the audience to take in the strange form.

• Dr. Death is brought out by two mutants. He is visibly under their control, climbing the stairs onto the stage from the opposite side.

• Dr. Death becomes fascinated by the organism. The mutants restraining him release him.

• The act begins:

  • They are examining each other.

  • There are moments of mirrored movements.

    • They circle each other.

    • When he gets closer, it approaches him. When he retreats, it retreats as well.

    • He reaches towards on end of it, and the other end reacts.

• Are the two ends communicating with each other through the tube?

• Does it start to anticipate what he may do next?

• It slowly starts to wrap itself around Dr. Death and leads him offstage through the screen.

Music: Live

Message to audience: The scientists are no longer the observers.

Duo Aerial Silks - Kerri + Keith

Keith reverses the pet/handler relationship; now Keith handles Kerri.

• Could Keith inject himself with the fluid? Maybe he is experimenting on himself, and then Kerri, by the end? Or maybe he asks another mutant to “hulk him out”?

  • This escalates the mutants storyline, they aren't trying to escape or get revenge, Keith, in this case is making the choice of what he becomes.

  • He gets exactly what he wants–which is the last thing Kerri wants.

Music: Recorded

Mutant group act - TBD

• Chaos

• Soldiers/scientists have been disappeared

• Near the end of the act, sirens start to blare

  • The experiments are over.

  • The collectively stop, look around, and then take off They have gotten their results and now they are done.