Spaces_004-5A
Nickname: The Stage Where No One Applauds
Danger Ranking: 5A
First Reported: 1983–06–28 — Decommissioned civic theater, Olympia, WA

Summary:
The Stage Where No One Applauds is an anomalous interior space resembling a modest community theater from the 1960s. Its stage, lighting rig, audience seating, and backstage areas remain physically intact despite the exterior of the building having long since collapsed into disuse. The space is completely sealed off from the outside world—doors open inward only and do not lead back out.

Visitors who enter the space report a distinct pressure to perform, even if they lack any theatrical background. Clothing subtly shifts to match various costumes; makeup appears on their faces in smudged, unfamiliar patterns. Scripts appear in coat pockets and dressing room vanities—always written in the subject’s own handwriting.

As the subject stands on stage, the lights rise. The seats fill with dark shapes. A performance begins, one the visitor does not remember preparing for—but which they cannot stop.

Known Properties:

• Subjects entering the space begin to exhibit involuntary theatrical behaviors: dramatic monologues, rehearsed gestures, and emotional soliloquies based on repressed memories or past regrets.
  
• The seating is filled with an audience of silhouettes. They are silent. Occasionally, one can be heard weeping, or coughing in contempt. No subject has ever reported applause.
  
• All performances end with the actor collapsing to the floor—sobbing, whispering lines they no longer understand. Lights go dark. Upon relighting, the subject has vanished.
  
• Any attempt to record within the space results in corrupted film. The footage plays back with reversed sound, and additional figures not present during recording.
  
• The stage cannot be dismantled. Attempts to remove boards result in identical ones regrowing overnight.
  
• Whispers backstage have been confirmed to repeat known fears and failures of the subject. They escalate in volume with each visit.
  

Containment Procedure:

• The building containing the stage has been condemned and surrounded by a perimeter wall under the guise of asbestos risk. Only high-level Site-4 clearance may override the barrier protocols.
  
• Remote drones are unable to maintain telemetry within the space. Observation through traditional means has been abandoned.
  
• Psychological screening is mandatory for all personnel assigned to proximity patrol. Anyone with a history in theater arts or performance is to be reassigned immediately.
  
• No mirrors or reflective surfaces are to be brought into the space under any circumstances.
  

Encounters:

• 1983–06–28 — Olympia, WA: First identified after a missing teenager was found backstage, unresponsive, covered in stage blood. Their final words: “I forgot my lines.”
  
• 1986–10–11 — Internal Expedition: Researcher Alan Mertes entered with a two-person team. Only Mertes emerged. He now compulsively recites a one-act play describing his own death. The script evolves weekly.
  
• 1990–03–09 — Site-4 Audio Feed: A 12-minute broadcast from the theater was intercepted. It consisted of overlapping audience reactions, all negative. Last words on the recording: “Why would we clap for you?”
  

Recommendation:
Do not enter the theater. Do not indulge the impulse to rehearse. Do not acknowledge the script if it knows your name.

This space is classified as memetically aggressive. It feeds on performance. It is never satisfied.

List of Case Workers:

• Dr. Lena Coates (Status: Active)
  
• Agent Samir Dhal (Status: Deceased, 1988 — Disappeared during rehearsal segment)
  
• Research Assistant Julia Wen (Status: Transferred, 1989)
  
• Dr. Emory Hale (Status: Retired, 1990 — Long-term psychological trauma)
  
• Director Silas Wren (Status: Unknown — subject believed to have been “written into” the ongoing performance)