A few weeks back We Are Indie Horror informed the community of a unique immersive theater experience, Wicked Lit. To refresh your memory, Wicked Lit is an walking play where the wrap around story leads you through the grounds of the mausoleum and cemetery while putting the audience inside three different shows. Unbound Productions are the masterminds behind Wicked Lit for seven years now.
We Are Indie Horror was able to sit down with one of the lead actresses from the show. Deborah Dominguez plays Elana referred to mostly as The Woman in the last of the chilling tales, The Ebony Frame. Deborah comes from Leon, Spain where she studied drama and performing arts. Afterwards she moved to Madrid to work on her masters in acting specializing in Shakespeare, taught by Shakespeare’s Foundation. She has held multiple roles in theater and film ranging from actress, to direction assistant, and image consultant. She has also dabbled in TV, fashion, photography and animation. As busy as she is, Deborah took a few minutes to speak to us about her life, her passion, and of course Wicked Lit
WAIH: Let’s talk about Wicked Lit
Deborah: It is one frame, three shows, so actually four shows. I am one of the leads, co-leads, in one of the shows. Working with the company has been a gift to me and my career. They are all amazing and we are a family.
WAIH: Tell me about the uniqueness within the show.
Deborah: It is so unique because it is immersive theater, and it is not common throughout the world. The audience goes from the frame to one play to another by group. We have sold out everyday until now and it has been amazing. The audience has loved it. It is also unique because it isn’t like scary horror. Each minute in the play is sensitive and dramatic.
WAIH: Some of the stories are based on Edgar Allan Poe tales correct?
Deborah: They are adaptations of… normally the company every year does adaptations based in horror. They pick tales from different countries. Like last year, I auditioned for La Llorona from Mexico. They twist it to horror but keep all the feeling. This is my first year actually working with the company. Last year I didn’t book it because of age. All the women had to be older.
WAIH: You were trained in Spain under Shakespearian acting, now that is stage training. But you have a few shorts and features coming out soon.
Deborah: In Spain I was mostly have a background and education in mostly theater. Then I did film over there, mostly short films.
WAIH: Do you see a big difference in acting from film to stage?
Deborah:To me there is no difference. Sometimes I make so many mistakes because I am so expressive as a latin. Plus the theater. It is all about the fact of learning and adjusting to the medium.
WAIH: Is there any difference between acting on a stage versus in a graveyard?
Deborah: Well, the energy is different. In the mausoleum when we first got there, I had two scenes. One in the worst place of the mausoleum. We go upstairs. My breathing just stops. I could not breath. It was extremely hot. Which was surprising to me because the cemeteries, at least the ones I’ve been in, its cold. Like the energy of the place is cold. This place is the opposite. It is very calm, really relaxed. There are noises…sometimes and upstairs is totally hell, which is good for my character, because that is where I come from is hell. Really old theaters have the same energy. Not the noises but the same *gasp*
WAIH: It is interesting that you keep saying energies, so you do believe in ghosts?
Deborah: Yeah
WAIH: So have you had a personal ghost experience with Wicked Lit
Deborah: Oh yeah. Everyday.
WAIH: Everyday? Tell me about one.
Deborah: In the first scene, there is smoke coming out before Henry comes upstairs. I am in the last part of the floor upstairs. There is this little room, not really a room, but it is a room. When I am sitting there doing my think, getting focused, warming up. One day I looked up and the smoke came a different way, but the window is closed. The smoke usually goes the other way and never comes to me. That day it came right to my area. I am not one to get afraid. I love it. I think is different. I love energies. Sometimes I freak out, but it usually is fine. That day, something not fun was there. It’s not a bad feeling, just interesting. Different. An energy that we humans alive or in another place are used to it. In a place like that with no people but so many energies you get used to it or learn about it.
WAIH: Where did your love for the genre come from?
Deborah: I really like horror like this, like mystery horror. There are a lot of movies to me that just try to get the audience afraid. Horror is not about that. It has to be based on a story, feelings, passion, and all these human things to get someone afraid of it. Like real things. This sometimes empty horror projects try BOO! and things like that. Since I was little I wasn’t afraid, I just didn’t like them. I don’t like them because I don’t feel anything. They don’t change anything in me. I like more psychological horror. It gets you thinking about it. That is what gets me afraid.
WAIH: What is your favorite horror film?
Deborah: I love the Exorcist. The old horror films is what I love.
WAIH: Is there a difference from acting in Spain versus acting in the U.S.?
Deborah: The language. Even if you speak it and you speak it well, your body is just not used to it to express. It takes a while to be here to see gestures and see differences in cultures and differences in audiences.
WAIH:So what is next for you?
Deborah: I have a film, bilingual, French and English with a director I met in Cannes last year. 3 characters. It is going be Dogma 95 dealing with the antichrist. Done like Birdman but done in one take. One day. One take. It is also improve. No script. I am going to be French. The other lead is European and he is going to speak in English and the other girl is going be speaking English. It is all about getting to a place and not being able to communicate but about the human connection. I know it is a huge challenge but I am so excited. I also a have a mini-web series that is dark, love, life and death. We are thinking about some of the actors from Wicked Lit to do a little play. And I want to do Wicked Lit again and again.
You can catch Deborah Dominguez in Wicked Lit until November 14. Tickets are not too expensive at most $45 and can be as cheap as $25. Be sure to grab yours fast, they are sure to sell out. The shows are located at Mountain View Mausoleum & Cemetery (2300 N. Marengo Ave.
Altadena CA 91001)
For tickets and more information please visit http://unboundproductions.org/wicked-lit-2015/
