A new theater collective is about to put on its first show, and it's starting with an immersive bang. For its debut production, Austin Underground Collective (AUC) will stage Andrew Lippa's The Wild Party, a show with no stage and no audience, at Pershing Hall from October 31 to November 12.

The musical theater production will be staged around guests seated at cocktail tables, as if it were all one big party. The imagined setting is a 1920s apartment, where Queenie (Leslie Hollingsworth) and Burrs (Andrew Cannata) — a couple obsessed with one-upping each other — are having guests over. The setting won't stretch the imagination, since Pershing Hall is a 1920s property and is decorated accordingly.

As their guests, Austinites who come to the show can either stay tuned to the drama unfolding around their tables or go the bar. Guests are encouraged to dress up to increase the immersive feeling. There will also be programming before and after the show to set the mood and see folks off with a cabaret.

A press release connects this format to the collective's overall purpose: "original theater staged in unconventional spaces, built on strong scores and bold direction creating a one-of-a-kind theatrical experience not typically offered."

AUC will have a core group of actors and hopes to connect not just with Austinites who go to many theater performances, but everyone looking for immersive experiences.

“Austin Underground Collective exists to create an experience that's loud, messy, and a little dangerous," said founder Leslie Vander Gheynst in the release. "Andrew Lippa's score is electric and ambitious, and it deserves a production as bold as the music itself. Starting here feels right. In a time drowning in digital interaction and image perfection, this show brings us back to raw humanity and everything that comes with it. It's a story about people who refuse to behave themselves, staged by a company built on the same instinct."

Director Julianna Wright said she wants the story to feel "raw" and "complicated."

“I want guests close enough to know these characters, to catch the look on Queenie's face before she says a word," Wright said. "That changes everything about how we staged it: every scene must work whether a guest is three feet away or thirty.”

Tickets to The Wild Party are available at austinundergroundcollective.com. Prices range from $25-$75, depending on how involved attendees want to be in the immersive elements of the show. Guests must be at least 18 years old for legal reasons. Performances will happen Wednesdays through Saturdays at 8 pm and Sundays at 5 and 8 pm. Pershing Hall is located at 2415 E. 5th St.