![\""The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1789913316_978_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n\u201cThe Pineapple\u201d promised to be intense, but even hours before the show had begun, it had me startled. <\/p>\n
I was warned, via a waiver attendees must sign to experience the production, to expect \u201cintimate, and\/or aggressive physical contact,\u201d \u201cconfined spaces and passageways,\u201d and that I may be asked to crawl, kneel or lie down. All of it would happen in a show that I was cautioned would present simulated violence or \u201cdisturbing imagery.\u201d <\/p>\n
As much as I love participatory, immersive theater \u2014 productions that often rely on some form of audience participation \u2014 \u201cThe Pineapple\u201d was providing me with a checklist of things I generally avoid. It was a feeling that only grew when I reached the waiver\u2019s end, and signed off that I was OK with claustrophobia (I am not). <\/p>\n
What had I done?<\/p>\n
None of it, though, had fully prepared me for what Candle House\u2019s \u201cThe Pineapple\u201d actually was. By the time the hourlong experience in North Hollywood had reached its conclusion, I had been straddled by a woman who forced a gloved finger down my throat, outfitted with hooded, vision-impairing face masks, grabbed by the wrists as they were taped together, ordered to crawl toward a blood-stained room, and spooned or kissed by multiple male performers.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Pineapple\u201d is a secretive hourlong show that seeks to disorient attendees. <\/p>\n
(Sona Earnest)<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Pineapple\u201d is a buzzed-about show among the tight-knit immersive community, one that fits into the medium\u2019s long tradition<\/a> of productions designed for a sole audience member<\/a>. A short run last year in New Jersey sold out. Candle House has such a devoted following that its L.A. shows have been selling out almost as instantly as they are announced. While it\u2019s thus far been shrouded in secrecy \u2014 \u201cThe Pineapple\u201d will not even release a program or cast list until its run has concluded \u2014 it comes highly recommended from acquaintances who saw it on the East Coast. I was alternately excited and apprehensive to take part, and my editor would like me to note that I pitched this story on my own accord. <\/p>\n \u201cThe Pineapple\u201d in its limited online description <\/a>promises an alien encounter. Sign up, and an email will tell you that it will \u201cchange your life.\u201d <\/p>\n For the passionate crowd of immersive enthusiasts who may want to experience \u201cThe Pineapple\u201d and are worried I just spoiled the show, I call nonsense. For one, I believe audiences should know exactly what they are paying for, and two, I do not think \u201cThe Pineapple\u201d can be properly spoiled. It was at times otherworldly, in moments psychedelic, and while there were scenes in which I felt fear, there were also others in which I laughed. While \u201cThe Pineapple\u201d flirts with horror, torture and conspiracy nuts, it also provides space for Jimmy Buffett\u2019s \u201cMargaritaville.\u201d <\/p>\n And in \u201cThe Pineapple\u2019s\u201d best instances, it created a sense of personal intimacy with its performers. These were actors who may have earlier been needling at or attempting to push my boundaries. \u201cThe Pineapple\u201d wants to toy with our trust, to create a safe space where it can intermix themes of abuse and empathy until their lines are blurred. Consider its waiver, then, not just a warning but an attempt to weed out those who may be offended or triggered. <\/p>\n \u201cThe Pineapple\u201d tries to break us. And it charges nearly $250 for the privilege. <\/p>\n \u201cHow do I put this,\u201d says the show\u2019s core creator\/director Evan Neiden when asked his intentions behind \u201cThe Pineapple.\u201d \u201cI think the show is designed to boil you. Like the lobster in the pot. It gets warmer and warmer and warmer and it\u2019s slowly acclimating you to this new set of rules that keep changing to this new environment of degeneracy and conspiracy.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe Pineapple\u201d teases an alien encounter. It is theatrical production designed for one guest. <\/p>\n (Sona Earnest)<\/p>\n Neiden, the 27 year-old founder of Candle House, <\/a>has long specialized in one-on-one phone productions designed to be done from the caller\u2019s home. While drastically different in narrative content, his horror show \u201cClaws,\u201d<\/a> in which its solo guest acts as an emergency line operator, is good prep for \u201cThe Pineapple\u201d as it also seeks to push people to the brink of comfort. <\/p>\n If there is an artistic thesis behind the work of the New York-based Candle House, it is to cast its audience as performers, but then poke, prod and disorient until they stop performing and start reacting on instinct \u2014 or, in theory, become unguarded. It\u2019s an idea that simply to get through the day we are playing a role of sorts, tuning our conversations to please others, or presenting exaggerated, false or tidied-up versions of ourselves on social media. <\/p>\n \u201cIn an experience like this, you\u2019re alone with the inhabitants of the world, and they\u2019re all there as part of your hallucination, your dream and your journey,\u201d Neiden says. \u201cYou don\u2019t need to worry about presenting a certain way or being perceived in a certain way. All the characters in \u2018The Pineapple\u2019 are degenerates, and this show invites you to become one as well. That\u2019s very hard to do if someone from the respectable, outside world is watching.\u201d<\/p>\n The setup for \u201cThe Pineapple\u201d is simple. I was playing a respondent to an ad for a meeting with an alien. But things quickly spiral beyond clear narrative recognition, as piecing together the story becomes a puzzle unto itself. And it will shift depending on how one reacts, as there are multiple endings. But know only that in its opening minutes we learn that we have been swindled and are now part of a ritual of sorts to summon said alien. <\/p>\n \u201cThe Pineapple\u201d offers intimate actor interactions designed to push boundaries.<\/p>\n (Sona Earnest)<\/p>\n You may find yourself, as I did, raising your voice, as \u201cThe Pineapple\u201d did light research on me. My career was insulted, and I was mocked for fumbling around while attempting to juice a pineapple with a woefully inadequate kitchen utensil. Neiden says many attendees try to break the show itself, to push back and see how far its narrative can bend. This is typically not how I play, wanting to experience a production as its designers have intended and thus I let \u201cThe Pineapple\u201d take the lead rather than trying to force my will upon it. <\/p>\n I am not easily offended and never used the safe word provided, although there were instances where I came close, namely when my feet were being aggressively, unwelcomely massaged. And yet there were scenes in which I thought about deeply personal relationships I have had, specifically when a character asked me to think of a time when forgiveness or an apology was craved from someone I am no longer closely connected with. <\/p>\n \u201cThe Pineapple\u201d then began to feel like a metaphor. As I moved from darkened room to darkened room, ridiculed in one, flirted with in another, a thread of finding one\u2019s own personal paradise in a hellscape began to emerge. Is it aliens we are seeking, \u201cThe Pineapple\u201d begins to ask, or simply perhaps purpose? The act of forgiveness, Neiden tells me, was on his mind when crafting the show.<\/p>\n \u201cI never really felt like I fully understand it,\u201d Neiden says. \u201cWhat is forgiveness? Some people say it\u2019s letting someone off the hook. Others say it\u2019s releasing yourself of the burden of a grudge. And it\u2019s a word wrapped in religion and politics. There are so many definitions of it, and we hear it everywhere \u2014 forgiveness and its counterparts of guilt, shame and accountability. What does it mean? The show doesn\u2019t answer that.\u201d<\/p>\n Maybe. That\u2019s up to the audience, not its creator. <\/p>\n Days after I\u2019ve seen \u201cThe Pineapple,\u201d friends and peers keep asking if I enjoyed it, and I don\u2019t think it\u2019s a simple answer. It\u2019s not for everyone. I\u2019m not sure it\u2019s even for me. Simulated torture is not my idea of a good time. But \u201cThe Pineapple\u201d did wear me down, and it\u2019s beautiful in the way it highlights the lonely anguish at the heart of Buffett\u2019s \u201cMargaritaville.\u201d<\/p>\n As its small cast obsesses over a fabled alien encounter and seems willing to stop at nothing to find release in a divine being, be careful, \u201cThe Pineapple\u201d argues, of the personal Eden you seek. <\/p>\n At least that was my takeaway. You might walk away with an entirely different message. <\/p>\n \u201cMaybe you just fell in with the wrong crowd and got abducted by aliens,\u201d Neiden says. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cThe Pineapple\u201d promised to be intense, but even hours before the show had begun, it had me startled.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":470040,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[37086,1864,184958,184960,184962,184961,34402,48,52,51,47,50,49,184959,1594,1459,20702,184957,5927,1744,315],"class_list":["post-470039","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-alien","tag-audience","tag-boundary-pushing-show","tag-candle-house","tag-conspiracy-nut","tag-forgiveness","tag-jimmy-buffett","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-neiden","tag-other","tag-part","tag-performer","tag-pineapple","tag-production","tag-space","tag-time"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470039","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=470039"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470039\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/470040"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=470039"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=470039"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=470039"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1789913316_33_.jpeg\")
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