About the album
Experience Marianas is a wild rock musical adventure about one woman's journey to escape an oceanic cult. The piece is a high-octane, darkly comedic examination of systems of control and how we struggle to define our identities within them. The music is inspired by retro-flavored synths and New Wave rock
Set aboard a ship, the show immerses our audience into the Marianas Institute, an aquatic ‘healing center’ founded by failed actor, Dr. Davis Johnson. We are indoctrinated into the group in real-time. "Informational sessions" start off completely plausible but get progressively wilder and more fantastical, complete with pyramid schemes, sex rituals, sea monsters, and eventually murder.
We begin shortly after Dr. "Daddy" Davis has died. Our heroine, SB, has been chosen to replace him as Navigator, however, her promotion comes at a great cost: in the coming days, she must make a violent "sacrifice" proving her devotion to the group. The cult's Elders are skeptical of her ability to lead but RB, an eager young recruit, declares her love and devotion to SB (though romantic relationships are forbidden). SB struggles to maintain control, finding herself perpetuating the very cycle of abuse she joined Marianas to escape.
Eventually, we learn that Dr. Davis, with his last breaths, demanded that SB kill RB and lead the group to their deaths in a "Final Dive" —awakening the Ancient Ones at the bottom of the ocean and triggering a cleansing apocalypse. SB reaches a breaking point before she can put Daddy's dark plan into motion, but her awakening comes too late. Daddy Davis put fail-safes in place, the cycle of control rolls on, and we watch as the members we've come to know over the course of the play joyfully jump overboard to their fate. SB is left behind, and with newfound agency she has a choice: to break the cycle, or continue it.
- Label
- TBD
