Fri Jul 25 - Sat Aug 16 EXIT Theatre Presents The Pandora Experiment think inside of the box... Website

$20

Description Magician and EXIT Theatre Artist in Residence, Christian Cagigal brings back his critically acclaimed theatre/magic show: The Pandora Experiment for a 4th run, July 25th. 4 Weekends Only! The Pandora Experiment has made the Top Lists and Editor’s Picks of the SF Chronicle 96 Hours SF Examiner (3 times) and SF Weekly It’s been featured in on SF Station and The 96 Hours. SF Chronicle Feature’s Pandora The Pandora Experiment: Magician’s World by Reyhan Harmanci Chris Cagigal has been interested in magic since he was 10 or 11 years old - old enough to know that he could get positive attention even while remaining a self-described nerd. He scoured bookstores and libraries for magic books, and stayed up late at night teaching himself sleight-of-hand maneuvers. But it’s been hard finding a place in the field. "The main venues for magicians are parties, corporate events, Vegas and cruise ships," Cagigal says. "I have friends who do them, and do them really well, and I respect them and they’re really excellent at those things, but (those venues) are not for me." Now, Cagigal feels he has hit his stride as the originator of the innovative magic show "The Pandora Experiment," now in its third run in a bigger space. His work lies somewhere between traditional magic practices and the psychologically driven mentalists, whose effect is very close to mind reading. "I got into art and theater in college, and took some time away from performing to not be a performer, but I always knew I’d come back to it." Eventually, he says, "it became about something else for me. It wasn’t about leveling out social anxieties. It became about the unknown and being OK with the unknown." "The Pandora Experiment" is broken into two 45-minute acts. Cagigal is loath to say much about it - a magician, after all, never reveals his secrets - but he does offer a tease. "There’s a box that knows your secret wish, a toy car that knows what you’re thinking, and a toy doll that communicates with the audience using quotes from Shakespeare." Cagigal inherited the doll in question from a grand uncle, a Spaniard who had fought as a rebel in the Spanish Civil War. He says weaving personal history into "The Pandora Experiment" is important to him. "I’ve always loved storytelling. It harkens back to good old days, shaman, not to say I’m on the level of shaman, but also sitting around the campfire." In the end, however, Cagigal says that what sets him apart from some of the showier contemporary magicians (think Criss Angel and David Blaine) is his emphasis on audience participation and connection. "It’s like, can I bring people in to a fantasy world for a while," he says. "The more we hurtle forward today, the more we desperately need that - to be in a magical world." Link to original story here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/20/NSUJVIO1J.DTL&hw=magicians+world&sn=002&sc=396 “Dasterdly clever…Cagigal keeps his audience riveted.” Robert Avila-SF Guardian “Christian Cagigal is no mere illusionist…[the] sense of mystery ripples through the entire show and gradually into your very psyche.” Nirmala Nataraj-SF Station “For Christian Cagigal's newest magic show, the audience is not so much a subject of clinical study, but an object of affection. Cagigal stands on a living room rug counting audience members with his stage manager before stepping off, and moments later re-emerges transformed to guide us through "the experiment." Cagigal uses antique objects that are well-worn, simple and accessible; two music boxes with haunting chimes, small chests with the treasures of a child inside. A doll of porcelain and papier-mâché gazes soulfully throughout and feels as real as any of us. His performance takes the audience beyond just the willing suspension of disbelief and into another place in time where magic is not the work of an illusionist or performer but exists in creaky wooden boxes found in a grandparent's attic. The set and lighting underscore Cagigal's creation to create an ethereal beauty. His staging and sensitivity as he plays with his audience conveys a level of safety and trust so as to not feel duped, but included in the magic. What does The Pandora Experiment reveal? Above all else: imagination.” Nara Dahlbacka-SF Weekly

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