POSER: a thearical experience

POSER is a night of immersive theater that features multimedia effects, bold and vulnerable storytelling, and a unique combination of audience participation and artistic expression—all coming together for an unforgettable experience.

STORY

The plot revolves around Jiin, a jaded actor/dancer with a long-term gig as a nude figure model. As she gets ready to work another Drawing Marathon (a three-week intensive drawing class), Jiin is reaching that stage of life where she begins to doubt whether the endless rejections and disappointments of an artistic career are worth it. She’s used to daydreaming and generating ideas during long poses, but recently her desire to create has flattened out along with her ambition. The coordinator at the school where she models, Iris, urges her not to give up on herself or her dreams, and Silas, an awkward student at the Drawing Marathon, considers Jiin his muse—but Jiin is about ready to stop waiting for a break that will never come.

Just as she’s preparing to finally throw in the towel and change direction, Jiin encounters Henry, a new model hired to pose alongside her while taking time off from his own niche career as a private model for a famous artist. Henry believes that models are artists on the same level as those that draw them, and is supremely confident in his own artistic merit. His self-assurance and serious treatment of this “gig” work irks Jiin at first. But as the Marathon continues on, she finds herself inspired by his commitment, and with his urging, begins to build her own self-esteem and artistic self-image back up. Their relationship deepens along with their poses, and Jiin finally opens up to Henry—only to have her new confidence smashed to pieces when a physical encounter between them goes terribly sour.

Shaken, confused, and adrift in what used to be a familiar setting, Jiin withdraws from Henry, although the Drawing Marathon quickly becomes a cage from which Henry is unwilling to release her. With Henry’s actions redefining Jiin’s perspective yet again, she searches for a way to take back her own agency, even as her body and mind struggle to process the violation. The lesson she finally learns—that self-worth is not something anyone else can give or take away, but a choice you make within yourself—comes at a cost, though it also gives Jiin a glimpse of what she’s been longing for: a path forward.

PERFORMANCE

The members of POSER’s audience are also members of the cast: they are the students at the Drawing Marathon, outfitted with drawing supplies (paper, pencils, charcoal) and surfaces upon which to sketch. The seating arrangements mirror the set of a real Drawing Marathon, with the actors performing upon a raised dais while spectators are seated in a ring around them. The actors will react towards the audience the way models react towards artists: with quiet acknowledgement of their presence that never (or almost never) breaks the invisible wall between observer and observed.

Before the show begins, the audience is brought into the space, provided with supplies and refreshments, and presented with the actors modeling in timed poses—a procedure based on art school and Drink & Draws (social events where anyone can come and sketch, draw, or paint, regardless of artistic background or experience). This initial stage gives the audience time to personally connect to the world of the play: a world in which human bodies are temporarily objectified with purpose, where the sexual implications of nakedness are drained away by the business-like manner of the task at hand. It is one thing to tell people about such an environment—by actually creating it for the audience, POSER provides a brand-new experience far beyond what most theater productions offer.

By the time the play shifts into its first scripted scenes, the audience has ceased to be spectators in the action and have become participants. This participation is passive—audience members won’t be asked to engage directly with performers or join the narrative themselves—but because the artwork they are creating and the eyes through which they’re watching are key ingredients to the setting of the play, audience members feel a heightened level of involvement just by being in the space. Throughout the play, the audience will have the option to draw the models while the narrative unfolds, or they can simply sit back and watch, viewing the entire process from a unique and intimate perspective. Their work and presence will continue to play a central role in the show’s arc: finished pieces will be collected during poses and pinned to the walls, replicating the interior of actual studios, and when the audience leaves, they will have the option of either taking their art home or donating it back to the production to be used as props. This art will also maintain a visual record of the production’s run for marketing and community purposes.

This immersive staging elevates a play about a unique activity to a lived-in, exhilarating event. It retains the structure of traditional theater—performers put on a show while an audience watches—but adds a tactile and narratively engaged element to the watching that will appeal directly to modern audiences. Theater’s superpower of putting human beings into the same room will be elevated through a conceit that makes viewers acutely aware of what it means to be in a room—to have a body, to see a body, and to move a body. It’s an exciting and original style of presentation that captures the imagination.

OPPORTUNITY

Theater has always been a space for innovation and daring, and POSER embodies those qualities. Generative AI and increased isolation have audiences hungering for genuine experiences and real human connection. A show like POSER, independently produced for the local community and mounting with immersive communal staging, will give the audience the living, tactile experience that they need. The show offers entertainment, engagement, and stimulation, but unlike social media or streaming TV, the experience is not designed to be consumed and forgotten within minutes—it creates conversation and curiosity, offers viewers a wide variety of new perspectives, and encourages their own artistic expression even while sitting in an audience.

POSER explores themes of risk, betrayal, artistic courage, and the search for identity, embodied through the actual bodies behind the images that inspire the rest of us. Based on the playwright’s extensive experience as a nude figure model, it seeks to elevate the theater experience by recreating the ambiance inhabited by visual artists and offering insight into the experience of being completely seen while feeling endlessly invisible.

In short, POSER is a singular show that stands apart in the Los Angeles landscape, and those who support it will have the opportunity to get in on the ground floor of new and exciting work. We are looking for members of the artistic community who are also ready to take chances and break molds in order to remind audiences of the power of live performance. By joining this production, you will be joining the push to reclaim art from those who commodify and put it back in where it belongs—in the hands of the people.

Please join us in making POSER a reality.

We would like to show our appreciation for any financial support by offering additional opportunities.