LetMeOut: An Immersive Memory Play

"Twenty strangers are trapped in a room, filled with signs that they have been locked there for ages. Nobody remembers how or why they came to be there. A digital timer above the door begins to count down from 30 minutes. What happens when the clock hits zero? As the prisoners begin to explore their surroundings, they uncover that not only are they trapped in that room - they are trapped in time, forced to relive their shameful pasts only to have their minds wiped clean when the timer hits zero. Will this time around be different? Will they overcome the insurmountable odds in order to escape, or will they be locked in this time loop forever?"


Have you ever wanted to try an escape room or take part in a murder mystery dinner party? Or do you like roleplaying games like Dungeons & Dragons or Vampire: The Masquerade? LetMeOut is a new form of performance where theatre and role-playing games collide to forge a fully-immersive audience experience. By using interactive entertainment and role playing game mechanics in a theatrical setting, this new form of performance will tear down the fourth wall, opening up a limitless, imaginative playground. LetMeOut will invite audience members to leave the real world behind and step into a new reality, shaping the course of events. There will be no defining line between "audience" and "performers" - everyone has a role to play.


Who Are We?
We are an international ensemble of physical theatre artists, dedicated to exploring new frontiers of live performance - namely, through audience immersive theatre. Eric William Jones, Marguerite Boissonnault, and Linnéa Ytterlid all studied together at Dell'Arte International School of Physical Theatre in Blue Lake, California from 2015-2016, and are reuniting to create LetMeOut as part of the Dell'Arte International Thesis Festival in May of 2018. 

Eric William Jones is an interdisciplinary artist and performer from Waukesha, WI. He received a BA in Theatre Direction from Macalester College, and has performed with companies throughout the US, Canada and Italy. He is captivated by the exploration of the intersection between role-playing games and theatre of audience immersion. LetMeOut will serve as his thesis project for a master of fine arts degree in ensemble based physical theatre at Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theatre.

Marguerite Boissonnault is a writer, theater maker, performer, and educator from Park City, Utah. With her first degree in Broadcast Journalism from Humboldt State University, she is a published theater reviewer and freelance writer. She currently teaches youth theater with the Egyptian Theater back in her hometown of Park City, and continues her training as an aerialist in the circus arts.

Linnéa Ytterlid is an actress, dancer, and director from Sweden. She studied dance at Balettakademien in Stockholm and theatre at Kulturama and Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theatre. Currently, she’s working on a project to spread awareness about mental health, rehearsing a mask performance in a family show, and dancing modern and Arabic dance with a dance company consisting of refugees.


What Do We Need?
LetMeOut is the culmination of over a year of research and development spanning two continents and countless hours of Skype calls. We believe that our new method of performance has the potential to be revolutionary, and that this project will serve as the catalyst for a lifetime of work in an exciting new field of live performance. Instead of being a one-and-done type of show, LetMeOut will become the template for future audience immersive theatre around the world. But we need your help!

In order to create this project, we have several goals to meet in our fundraising efforts. With your help, we will allocate donations to the following areas, in this order:

1. Travel - $850
Both Marguerite and Linnea are visiting artists, and with these fundraising efforts, we hope to cover the costs of their travel.

2. Housing - $1800
This amount will cover the costs for renting inexpensive apartment rooms for Marguerite and Linnea for the two month creation process.

3. Living Expenses - $1800
While this is a passion-project, we don't want to be literal starving artists!

4. Production Costs/Stipend for Visiting Artists - $400
Because we will be thinking "outside the box" in terms of our production, we also hope to raise some additional funds to create the aesthetic space we believe will suit our artistic needs. In addition, we are staunch believers that if at all possible, artists should receive some stipend for their work. LetMeOut will be performed as part of the MFA student Dell'Arte International Thesis Festival, and all tickets are pay-what-you-can. The proceeds from ticket sales go directly into funding more Dell'Arte student productions like this!

Thank you so much for your interest in making LetMeOut a success and for being a part of our fundraising efforts! 

With Fervor and Imagination,

Eric William Jones
Marguerite Boissonnault
Linnéa Ytterlid