BEFORE RUSTLE
PLOT SWAP:
PHEROMONES
A choose-your-adventure live play where the audience controlled how the characters responded.
10 SEATS.
10 SOLD-OUT WEEKS.
100 PEOPLE, TOTAL.
THE EXPERIENCE
10 SEATS.
NO STAGE.
Four actors performed just feet away from the audience.
At key moments, the room decided how a character would respond emotionally.
The actors immediately continued down the corresponding scripted path.
CLOSE ENOUGH TO FORGET
THEY’RE ACTING.
HOW IT WORKED
THE ROOM PICKED THE ROUTE.
- 01
THE STORYTELLER
Sets the scene and cues the next decision.
- 02
THE ROOM CHOOSES
The audience chooses a character’s emotional response.
- 03
THE ACTORS PIVOT
The actors immediately continue down the corresponding written branch.
ZERO IMPROV.
Every branch was written and rehearsed beforehand.The actors were not inventing the next scene.
THE SCALE OF THE SYSTEM
EVERY POSSIBLE NIGHT
WAS DESIGNED.
- 15
- SCENES
- 8
- ENDINGS
- EVERY PATH
- REHEARSED
WHAT IT FELT LIKE
Audience reactions to Pheromones
“It felt like listening to friends.”
“It felt like I shouldn’t be there. I loved it.”
Audience reactions from Pheromones at Foundation Room, House of Blues Houston.
WHAT WE LEARNED
THE FORMAT WAS A TOOL.
THE FEELINGS WERE THE POINT.
The audience-choice mechanic was interesting. The more important discovery was what those choices did to the emotional atmosphere in the room.
The story structure was only the mechanism. What mattered was whether the audience actually felt something.
The private-room format gave us permission to stage almost anything. Sometimes that freedom made the experience feel less real.
We became more interested in experiences that felt like something happening in real life rather than something staged for an audience.
WHAT CAME NEXT
How Plot Swap led toward Rustle
CONTROLLED THE FEELINGS INSIDE A STORY.
STARTED WITH THE FEELING.
THE QUESTION CHANGED.
HOW SHOULD THIS CHARACTER FEEL?
HOW DO WE MAKE A REAL PERSON FEEL SOMETHING?
ARCHIVE DETAILS
CREDITS
PHEROMONES
Foundation Room
House of Blues Houston
2025
10-week run
CAST
- Nico Castillo
- The Storyteller
- Austin Hanna
- Danny
- Allison Taylor
- Vic
- Caitlin Meaux
- Lucy
CREATOR
Russell Varner
SPECIAL THANKS
Ric Ancira