Created by Ned Schantz and Jay Shea
Part I: The Invitation
The invitation phase consists of an initial email contact and two follow-ups. Invitations go out until two sets of 12 players agree to participate. The initial email establishes the premise of their participation: that we are reviving a strange activity called Procession that appears to have been carried out in the neighborhood of N.D.G. in 1962 (the fictional nature of the premise is withheld from the players). The second email unfolds the lore, centered on Elena Chaussé, founder of the Walking Order of Regressive Memorists (W.O.R.M.), the group responsible for Procession who believed that walking was an evolutionary mistake and sought to stage a walk to end all walks. The third contact establishes the rules: phones off and no talking to each other.
Part II: The Approach
On the eve in question, players gather at Alexis-Nihon route 90 West stop to catch a bus to Upper Lachine and Melrose. Actors will already be on the bus, having gotten on at the previous stop. The players receive a reflective necklace and a card with a number that determines the order of procession. The back of the card is a map of the course.
A grim reaper has taken up a prominent position on the bus, along with actors in Ordinary Person Disguise (OPD) supporting the reaper and relaying a headcount. As the bus approaches the Melrose stop, the reaper tells them to prepare to get off and then leads them to the tunnel.
From this point on, the walking course is strewn with sentries, dressed in black and wearing sunglasses, who watch the players and mark the boundaries of the course.
Part III: The Tunnel Threshold and First Walk
Sentries guard the entrance (stepping aside for any member of the public). As the reaper passes through, a host appears to halt the players, reiterate key lore, and convey initial instructions: follow a guide in a single file procession for several blocks to the Honey Martin Pub. Sentries mark the major turns. During the first walk, a group of walking performers passes by the players in a mysterious counter-procession.
Part IV: Pitstop and Oath at Honey Martin Pub
The host greets the players again and informs them that they have time to get a drink and use the washroom, and that the no talking rule is suspended within the pub. Local historians mingle with the players to regale them with local lore, a mix of actual neighborhood history and fictional rumors about W.O.R.M. After 20 minutes elapse, a Queen of Cups pulls players aside one at a time to take an oath promising to walk down Sherbrooke alone to the Empress Theatre, freezing for ten seconds whenever someone looks at them. When all players have completed the oath and half an hour is up, the host lines the players up again in the original order and releases them at ten second intervals.
Part V: Solo Walks to the Empress Theatre
The players walk alone, freezing when looked at. Sentries make sure some stare-caused freezing occurs. Players arrive at the Empress Theatre and are stopped by a local historian, who engages them with general facts about the building’s history. Once all the players have arrived, the historian launches into lore about the theatre, which provided the basement home for W.O.R.M. When the historian is finished, the reaper reappears to lead the players into the back alley where they find an object on the ground: a coffin.
Part VI: The Funeral Procession
At the reaper’s direction, the players pick up the coffin and follow down the alley. Musicians emerge behind them to perform a dirge and follow the slow procession. At Maisonneuve they turn and proceed to the Royal Canadian Legion, up the ramp straight into the main gathering space. A masked audience of 50 people (including redeployed sentries and other actors) are positioned to frame the entire proceeding as a performance, leaving a large aisle in the middle. A flower girl greets the players at the door and leads them down a padded aisle to place the coffin on a table in front of the stage. The host greets them and gestures to a series of chairs in front. Programs have been placed on the chairs.
Part VII: The Grand Finale (A Funeral Service)
The host appears at the podium and asks the players to look at their programs—the same program carried out at the end of the original Procession of 1962. After delivering the opening remarks, the host calls players up to perform the scripted program based on their original order in today’s procession. Cue cards choreograph the masked audience to react at key points.
Funeral Program
Opening Remarks—host
Eulogy for the Biped—player #2
The Conqueror Worm—player #3
The Knees: A Remembrance—player #4
Charades—player #5
Lip-sync (These Boots are Made for Walking)—player #6
Traditional Funeral Rite (The Limbo)—all players rise
Final Procession (worm crawl)
When the Limbo concludes, atmospheric music comes in to quickly change the mood.
The host lines the players up behind the flower girl at the front of the padded aisle. The members of the masked audience on the aisle turn and face each other, extending their arms up and across to form a human tunnel. The host gives the final commands:
“The players are the worm.”
“On your knees, worm!”
“Crawl!”
The players crawl down the padded aisle through the tunnel. While the human tunnel whispers “crawl, crawl, crawl” at the players, the host leads the rest of the masked audience in a seven-beat chant: “Vi-ta Bre-vis Pro-ce-ssion, Vi-ta Bre-vis Pro-ce-ssion, Vi-ta Bre-vis Pro-ce-ssion.” When the first player emerges on the other side, the reaper marks their forehead with mud. When the last player is through, the chant ceases. The players face the audience, link hands, and take a bow. The masked audience burst into thunderous applause.
Ned Schantz Productions 