The Queen's Fools Theatre Company has announced that performers Peter Winkelmann and Anja Racić will lead their new immersive production HAG, which opens October 9th, 2025 in Los Angeles. The entire run sold out in twelve hours, demonstrating significant audience interest in experimental theater formats. This rapid sell-out suggests growing audience appetite for non-traditional, participatory theater experiences that prioritize unpredictability and audience interaction over scripted narratives.
HAG represents a departure from traditional theater productions, described as an immersive, experimental, audience-driven experience that evolves nightly based on participant engagement. The production blends improvisation, research, and unconventional rehearsal processes that challenge traditional theatrical approaches. The company's approach to theater-making emphasizes creating experiences that are alive, unconventional, and never identical between performances, reflecting broader trends in contemporary performance art that challenge conventional boundaries between performers and audience members.
Winkelmann and Racić serve as both performers and co-conspirators in the production, having workshopped the piece through live audience test runs and helped shape the production from its development stages. Their involvement extends beyond performance to engaging with the Los Angeles immersive theater scene and helping define the production's unique characteristics. Mason Conrad, CEO of Queen's Fools Theatre Company, emphasized the performers' qualifications for the production's unique demands, stating that Peter and Anja bring the exact combination of consistency, experience, and fearless creativity that HAG needs to thrive.
The Queen's Fools Theatre Company has established itself through previous immersive productions that have gained recognition within the experimental theater community. The company has been featured in publications including No Proscenium and Last Call Theatre, with their work described as unlike any other theater experience. This production continues Queen's Fools' mission of creating immersive and experimental performance that incorporates improvisation, collaboration, and audience immersion. Every night will be a living, breathing, unrepeatable piece of theatre, according to Conrad, highlighting how this production represents not just entertainment but a significant evolution in how theater is conceived and experienced.
