'Hours after a historic alliance, The Savior and His student are lead to a familiar setting while dreaming. When they enter the birthplace of the New Testament...someone intercepts their tracking device and raises the volume of a coveted siren...'

Marcus Osterly, Pastora Condon, Tyrone Fluid and Mistress Anya in...

Mistress Aria:

'Traces of a Modified Suspension'

A Literary Motion Picture

Written and Directed by
Dan Sherrill
Mistress Aria
Miss Ammunition
and Wooden Box Theater

Contributing writer - Maria the Purple Goddess

December 5th-DeKalb, IL

DeKalb, Illinois' most enigmatic and realistic theater group is back with their most powerful, emotional, heartbreaking and amazing novel, 'Mistress Aria: Traces of a Modified Suspension.' It is also book one of the trilogy, 'Mistress Aria: Spanish Crown Fingerprints.' This time around, the team, which has grown to seven full time members, put all of their efforts into a harrowing storyline that includes elements of flesh hook suspension, subspace, and End Times theology.

Lead writer Dan Sherrill explains that 'this is probably the most in depth and spiritual of all the novels I've written since 'Rehydrate Ash,' back in 2004.' He adds, 'it just flows really well. The characters play so amazingly well off each other that you get attached to them long after you're done reading it. I wanted to go to the Continuum Dungeon in Chicago after I was done writing this and see if I did the place justice. I'll never look at that part of Chicago the same way again.'

Several changes took place within the group during the writing of this new novel. A revealing difference is the loss of one of the groups co-founders, but firmly in her place is co-author, Mistress Aria, who serves as co-president and CEO of Wooden Box Theater.

Another change to the group has been the addition of Chicago's Goddess Feral as Script Supervisor, and Miss Ammunition as a full time 'core member' of the group. Maria the Purple Goddess also contributed this time with a character name and characteristics and some dialogue for a couple of emotional scenes in the novel.

'The idea for this story,' Sherrill adds, 'came from the tail end of a D/s scene that I watched featuring friends Abbey and Mistress Cleo at her space, The Continuum, in Chicago. After it was explained to me by my friend Miss Jaded, I was fascinated, and wanted to write about what I'd just seen. The whole part of it that I saw lasted about 10 minutes, but in those ten minutes I had this complete brainstorm that I could use the setting and the 'scene' to tell an amazing End Times story.'

There are scenes with the character, Lady Violet of Iley, in the novel. A character which became extremely popular during Wooden Box Theater's series of live performances in 1998 and 1999 in DeKalb. Several settings and characters from those early performances return in this story. 'Writing the scenes with Violet on North Iley were a ton of fun,' Sherrill says. 'That neighborhood still brings back memories. Good and bad. I wasn't sure how detailed I could get in the novel scenes that take place there, but with anything Wooden Box Theater related, there's always going to be a gritty sense of realism. A sort of 'How far can this go and still be brutally real, without someone calling my cell phone telling me I've gone too far. There are some scenes that I believe cross the line. Several times. The North Iley scenes could probably get me in serious trouble, but the story called for it.'

The intensity of the story comes to a head with several bloody attacks on other characters by the lead, Mistress Aria, who has fallen under a trance and shows several violent sides to her character. Sherrill adds, 'This is a bloodbath, in several places, it had to be. I'm putting the weight of a trilogy on one character. I think I turned her inside out. I also love Miss Ammunition's parts in this one. Now that I reread the story, it is just as spiritual and Christian as it is gory, but just in case anyone's squemish, this one has a lot of blood, as well as a pervasive knife scene that gave the novel a shocking presence that could look very creative if it were on film. Other scenes are sometimes extremely horrific, as is the case of a scene with character, Venia, and Aria at a location based on the Ill Measures Loft in Chicago. A popular setting for flesh hook suspension parties and events in the city. There is a very graphic, bloody scene that takes place there with Aria. Of all the novels, I'd say this one crosses into the 'R' Rating territory. But with anything, you have to use it to tell a story, instead of just a wall of blood for no reason, and with this story you don't really get clues to 'who's vision it all is' until a split second scene in the stairwell of the place modeled after the Loft.'

The novel comes to a shocking end in the middle of a semi-realistic 'End Times' scenerio, with God using a sword in battle with an identical copy of Himself, while Mistress Aria continues her bloody downward spiral. Only broken by God in a painful flesh hook suspension, and fire escape scene. 'There's some elements of The Excorcist in there. Not much, but enough for someone to make that comparison. You definitly see signs of possession in Aria during the more violent scenes in the story.'

Wooden Box Theater as a collective writing team have unleashed a novel of bitter, raw, emotional heights. A story of the D/s lifestyle, subspace, flesh hook suspension, The End of the World, on the streets of Chicago and DeKalb, IL. At the root of it is a powerful emotion filled roller coaster ride of plot twists, surprises, and ultra-realistic writing that only comes out when this group writes and brainstorms together.

As he describes the new novel, Sherrill points out that 'had I not seen that particular 'Scene' with Abbey and Cleo,' I wouldn't have had this amazing story to write. In a split second I had a plot, characters and a new direction for a lot of my characters.'

Coming up for the team is the follow up in February, 'Slow Revalation to Reveal the Catalyst,' which early reports show will make every attempt to top this one, as it will tell the difficult and harrowing story of lead character, Commander Aaron Deschanel's daughter, Gemma, and her dangerous rescue from someone attemping to recover the infamous 'Sealed' Plates of Nephi, as described in the Book of Mormon.

Wooden Box Theater is nearing another milestone. The launch of their own line of novels on their 'Wooden Box Flash' format, for which all future literary releases by them will be sold on. A multimedia experience including pictures, the novels, and special features. In the case of 'Rehydrate Ash,' the format will allow the reader to see the actual accident report and medical paperwork associated with the novel's core topic of the 2004 accident that Sherrill was in that cause his 2003 Hyandai Accent to burst into flames.

DeKalb's originators of 'realistic' theater are back with what may become the most talked about novel of the season. There are also plans for another season of live performances at DeKalb's The House Cafe during open mic nights on Tuesdays. Rounding out the team with Dan Sherrill, Mistress Aria and Miss Ammunition, is print/fashion model, Colleena Corrigan, script supervisor Goddess Feral, illustrator Mistress Asura and the team's general manager, Heather Weidrich.