A new interactive show
created by Arshan Gailus and Megan Markham
Devised by the Coven
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
WHAT IS THIS SHOW ABOUT AND WHAT MAKES IT IMMERSIVE?
Co-Witching is a show about a coven meeting on zoom. After the incident at Panera, we can’t go back there and so these six witches from Salem, OR, have to come together on zoom in order to get their usual week’s work done. This show is immersive theater in the traditional definition of being “a play you play”. Your interactions with the characters will lead the show to different outcomes and slightly different endings. There will be different breakout rooms for you to travel between and meet different characters, get different missions, and solve unique puzzles.
WHERE IS THE SHOW? DO I NEED TO BE TECH-SAVY TO ENJOY IT?
The show is entirely on Zoom, the video conferencing platform. You will need a free zoom account and to have the application downloaded on your computer. The show is ideally watched on a computer/laptop but a phone or tablet will still be able to view most of the show’s content. Audience members will get a briefing on tech at the beginning of the show and the helpful MAVEN will always be available in the Main Room if you have a question during the show.
WHEN/HOW WILL I GET THE ZOOM LINK?
Each performance will have a unique link that will be emailed out to ticket holders the day of the event. If you haven’t received an email 2 hours before the performance you’re attending, check your spam folder for an email from info@phoenixtearsproductions.com and feel free to contact us on Facebook or by emailing info@phoenixtearsproductions.com
I’M HAVING TROUBLE BUYING THROUGH TICKETLEAP!
If you attempt to buy a ticket your card is rejected, email megan@phoenixtearsproductions.com and we will set up a way to manually issue you a ticket.
I BOUGHT MORE THAN ONE TICKET FOR THE PEOPLE IN MY HOME, DO WE NEED TO SHOW UP ON SEPARATE DEVICES?
This show is better enjoyed if you are one person at a computer as parties will be allowed to split up and have some extra free will. If you would like to tune in with another person you will have to make decisions together and move like one player through the experience. We will not allow more than 2 audience members tune in from the same device and every person on screen must have purchased a ticket. If you are on different devices tuning in from the same household, we advise that you wear headphones and be in separate rooms to prevent feedback. If you have any questions about this policy you can email megan@phoenixtearsproductions.com
I’M a Phoenix Tears fan….is this secretly a posthumous show?
While Co-Witching is co-written by Posthumous co-creator Megan Markham (phew thats a lot of cos) this is a unique show! Leave the afterlife system and corporate espionage offline for this one. We describe Co-Witching as a low stakes mystery. It is for the gossips, the nosey people, the drama stirrers, the tea spillers. Come to play and get a little siller than ever before. Co-Witching is the first immersive zoom show made by the team of Arshan Gailus & Megan Markham.
Meet the Coven
PAO Ayala (she/they) is so excited to be joining the cast of Co-Witching for her very first online show! Phoenix Tears is one of their favorite production teams to collaborate and play with; previous productions include Ophelia and Letters in Need. This year PAO was in 3 Orlando Fringe shows: Letters in Need, MacShrek, and Final Girl’s Guide to Surviving a Serial Killer. You can find her side-questing all around Orlando/Central Florida whether that’s at a theme park, participating in stage combat, attending dance class, roller skating, or cozy with a good book. They are a multidimensional witch with a passion for arts and community, and hope you enjoy a peek into her newest kooky coven!
We are so excited to welcome @fearlessphoenix to our coven! This is Lindsay’s first show with Phoenix Tears Productions and we are so happy to have her. She is a shining light in rehearsal and a sapphic disaster girl boss in this show.
Claire Biddiscombe (she/her) is an improvisor, storyteller, theatre-maker, and educator. Originally from St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada, she has moved around a lot, but has been based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada since 2018. Claire is the co-founder, chair of the board, and director of education at Wayward Improvised Theatre. As a performer, she regularly plays in improv shows in Ottawa, and has also appeared in improv festivals in Ottawa, Montreal, Tampa, FL, and Victoria, BC. Her solo storytelling show Schedule of Loss just finished a run at the Ottawa Fringe Festival. Claire previously appeared in Posthumous and Afterlife Job Fair, and is excited to be working with PTP once again!
Amber Fitzsimmons (she/her) is excited to be coming back into your virtual space with Phoenix Tears Productions with this wonderfully witchy work. Local to Lincoln, Nebraska, Amber was most recently seen onstage as Laurel in Torch Song (OmniArts) and as Helen of Troy in Clyt; or The Bathtub Play (OmniArts). She has lost count of the number of shows she’s done with Phoenix Tears, but most recently haunted a kitchen as Vic in The Dawson Riddle and enthralled a player or two as Jack in The Game. Amber is proud to support making theatre more accessible in this virtual space and looks forward to playing with this amazing cast and our enchanting online community.
Callie Wills is a professional voice over artist currently working remotely out of her lovely hometown of Orlando, Florida. This year will mark a decade of working alongside the amazing Phoenix Tears team. Other notable projects you may have heard her in over the years include such interactive theatrical productions as Stardust Kingdom, The War, Infected, and Witches, as well as previous Zoom shows Space Shipped and The Dawson Riddle. She is so excited to be a part of this most recent production, Co-Witching, and can’t wait to share the magic!
Tia Shearer Bassett (she/purr) is the joyful weirdo behind such projects as: The From-Home Fest, The Tiny PlayWright, and the raising of her much cooler mini-me.
Megan Markham (she/they) is so excited for this interactive show. In addition to playing Lyra, Megan co-created this piece with Arshan and she is thrilled to have gotten this year long collaboration out into the world with such a wonderful coven. This is Megan’s third witchy show; she wrote The Witches (2022) and immersive audio drama with @audiohauntorlando and toured a solo story telling show called Witch with Her Skirt on Fire last summer (and will be in Edmonton with it for @edmontonfringe !!) They are so happy to be growing the coven and have this online way to experience the magic of a witchy world
Arshan Gailus (they/them) is so excited to be part of this coven as both co-writer and cast member! Arshan is an interdisciplinary artist who loves to play with performance, storytelling, music, sound, video, visual art, and web-based art. Their work includes an extensive background in the theater as a sound designer and composer; solo music projects; multi-modal pieces exploring culture, identity, and belonging; and interactive, immersive performances that explore our relationship to each other and to the ideas and spaces around us. They are also a theater educator, having previously taught sound design at Emerson College and currently teaching at Boston University. And if you feel misled by the glorious cat in this photo (Arshan is the human in case that wasn’t clear…), worry not, she just might make an appearance in the show herself 😸
