Unsimulated action is when what happens on stage or screen isn’t faked or acted, but actually takes place in real time—violence, intimacy, or endurance pushed past theatrical illusion into reality.

Session, written and performed by Lily Lady and Siena Foster-Soltis and directed by Frank Demma, uses unsimulated action as its driving force. Most won’t have heard the term unless they act themselves, or have rabbit-holed into Marina Abramović or Chris Burden’s self-harm in the name of art, or heard the rumors that so-and-so smokes real cigarettes on set.

“[You see] a lot of things that are real in Session that you don’t often see… so why couldn’t ‘this’ be real?” Lily explains that if she actually **** on ****, how is the audience supposed to know that *** didn’t actually **** him?

Revealing the “this” of it all would spoil the twisted genius that makes its way back to New York City on August 29th and 30th for four showings. This latest run, The Kollection Foundation’s foray into theater production, marks one year of rocking Los Angeles, New York, and Toronto’s underground. Audience members have fainted, feared they may be implicated, fallen deeper in love, and burst into uncontrollable bouts of laughter. Medium aside, Session is in a league of its own when it comes to authenticity.

For some, unsimulated action is a dirty act, an un-thespian-like lane of creativity. Foster-Soltis explains that when she was at CalArts, she was shunned from the theater program because she was experimenting with it: “It’s kind of a no-no for a lot of theater people. That’s why you’re not gonna see a show like this on Broadway… They’re simply not willing to be implicated.”

Trailer produced by Penelope Dario for Petit Mort Magazine’s production of Session at The Bowery Hotel; cinematography by Samantha Sutcliffe.

Lady recalls her early days in California as the impetus of the play. LA was boring and lacking substance. Then after meeting with a client in Orange County, Lady awoke from a dream with the plot skeletoned and a message from God to fill in the holes with Siena.

Other contemporary unsimulated acts that tiptoe in the space are Sleep No More, which twists a complex narrative through space—you may be yanked into a room, whispered secrets to, or even told your fortune—and The Box, which pairs nicely with a lot of drinks and an open-minded birthday girl who has waited her whole life to see a well-endowed bear swing his third arm. The first leans into immersion and the second is provocative.

Session is undoubtedly art-forward and art-first. This is something the supporting cast has to buy into, sign up for, and live.“We spoke to a casting director. After reading the script, they said they wouldn’t join on the project or send it out to anyone. They didn’t think anyone in their network would be willing to have things be unsimulated. We ended up going [with] artists: reliable people who got the work and were also down for X, Y, Z…”

At one of the Bowery Hotel showings of Session, a man with style akin to Vanilla Ice could be overheard laughing before it started: I read a lot of scripts and like, this is the only script that I’ve ever been like, ‘I can’t do this.’ I can’t bring myself to do it.

A nuance and lesser spoiler of the play, which unfolds in three increasingly mind-bending parts, is a pillow fight scene early on. Lily and Siena, at first playfully and then increasingly intensely, whack each other with pillows. The last blow of the back-and-forth leaves the room silent and thinking: that must have hurt.

From that point on, everything snowballs. Foster-Soltis explains that “it's not like a film where you can rewind and try to [understand] a certain part… in some ways we're kind of forcing it on you.”

Lady feels that “over and above all, there's some shock and awe, but… it's a wholesome play. At the end of the day, it's about friendship, it's about trust and connection.” The play debuted last August at a private residence and they’re eager to continue to tour it a year later.

Foster Soltis reckons “being too precious about your work can be really damaging, so you just gotta do it.”

Lady agrees: ”We just want to hang out. [At one point] I found myself, you know, saying, oh, we don't get any love from legacy publications or, you know, we don't get any play… and now I just reframe it…. Daddy New York Times… I would love for you to write my name in and Sienna's name in ink. I just wanna get invited to the party and I think that when we get that invite, it'll be such a fun party, or it won't and that's all good, you know.”

Foster Soltis: “ While I'm working within the medium of theater, I don't necessarily see myself in the community of theater just because, um, this has been like a very hard line for people, at least in my experience.” Unironically, the two continue to pave a lane of their own.

Session returns to New York on August 29th and 30th for four showings. Purchase your tickets to see the limited run HERE.

The shows will be at Love's Club (@lovesclubnyc).