The Pineapple: A Disorienting and Intimate Experience

The Pineapple offers a peculiar form of immersive theater conceived and directed by Evan Neiden of Candle House Collective. This experience begins even before entry, with cryptic instructions leading participants to an alley in North Hollywood. Upon arrival, attendees are immediately confronted by performers who challenge their perceptions and personal boundaries.

The 60-minute production involves crawling, squeezing, and unexpected encounters designed to be funny, frightening, and intimate. Unlike passive entertainment, The Pineapple places the audience member directly within the action, forcing reactions and personal engagement. The performers skillfully read audience members, adapting the intensity and nature of the experience, sometimes leading to deeply personal revelations.

Despite the $250 ticket price, the demand for this hyper-experiential entertainment is high, with an initial run of 80 performances selling out rapidly. Candle House Collective, founded by Neiden, specializes in "alternate reality theater," blurring the lines between fiction and reality through interactive phone calls, texts, and now, physical spaces.

Performers, including Neiden himself, commit fully to the reality of the experience. They engage in physical contact, including caresses and kisses, creating moments of vulnerability and unexpected intimacy. The actors, much like the participants, also have the power to halt the performance, a detail that underscores the consensual nature of the extreme interactions.