Written By: Cassie Cormican

Imagine you’re in a confined space where there are no lights and you are simply just… there… still. Your vision has been completely taken away, where you are submerged into the darkness. A low, soft voice soothingly speaks aloud in the distance. The voice approaches you, raising every hair on your body.

This is just a snippet of my experience of the performance Coma today. I never truly realized how dependent I was on visual sense when experiencing a performance. Coma truly accentuated an audio experience, where the images became prominent in my head. I was able to create a story in my own mind that aligned with the audio senses I was experiencing. The production did a phenomenal job placing the voices at what seemed to sound like the perfect distance, given the size of the room.

Not only were the sound effects creating a whole new experience for me, but the performance also incorporated scent. Again, without visuals, it was unexpected. I became aware of smells that I would typically not notice if it had already been in front of me. But by eliminating my sight, my sensory overload kicked in and I was able to turn my focus on other senses that became more apparent.

Finally, Coma challenged me and the rest of the audience by tempting us to heighten our experience by swallowing a small pill. It would not harm anyone and you were only to take it if you wanted to. Reflecting on this experience, I’ve come to realize that this was a clever way the performers could test their audiences limits even further. The contradicting commentary made it as though I could not decide what to do, and because I was in the dark, I had no idea as if anyone else had swallowed the pill either. This decision was to be made completely voluntarily, without others influence. I saw this performance as a format of simply becoming aware of one’s self-motivation, swayed by persuasion.

Overall, I would highly recommend this performance. It was like none other than before, where I experienced scent and audio sensory overload. However, I would only recommend this performance to those who are comfortable being in a confined space, unable to see. This performance tested my personal limitations while making me aware of the scenes we may neglect when truly experiencing a show. Coma was a first time experience for myself and I would personally really enjoy experiencing again.