Entangled: 12 Scenes in a Circle K Off the I-40 in New Mexico.

What if the most ordinary place imaginable turned out to be the center of something inexplicably strange? Not a laboratory or a government facility, but a roadside gas station where the coffee is lukewarm, the fluorescent lights buzz overhead, and the bathroom might occasionally bend the rules of time and space. Entangled: 12 Scenes in a Circle K Off the I-40 in New Mexico, now playing at HERE Arts Center, explores exactly that possibility in a production that blends humor, mystery, and a touch of quantum weirdness.

Back at the HERE Arts Center for another evening of adventurous downtown theater, this time with SOCIETY Theater Company and their intriguingly titled Entangled. It is a production that embraces strangeness with confidence and, at times, surprising warmth.

The premise is delightfully odd. Everything unfolds inside a Circle K gas station somewhere along I-40 in New Mexico, not far from Los Alamos. Something is clearly off in this otherwise ordinary convenience store. Couples arrive and suddenly break apart. Customers step into the tiny bathroom and vanish for days. Time and space seem to bend in unpredictable ways. There are hints that the strange occurrences may connect to decades of scientific experimentation nearby, though the play wisely avoids turning this into a heavy historical lecture.

Instead, the show leans into the mystery. Entangled explores ideas about free will, coincidence, and quantum possibility through a series of scenes that move fluidly between comedy, drama, and full on dance party energy.

One of the quiet joys of the evening is the gas station attendant played by Joshua David Robinson who remains visible on stage for almost the entire production. His background reactions are a treat. At one point he casually eats a sandwich while silently observing the increasingly bizarre events unfolding around him, punctuating the moment with wonderfully exaggerated facial expressions.

Another highlight is the enthusiastic timeshare salesperson exploring the scientific folklore of Los Alamos in conversation with the attendant. Alexandra Templer brings the character to life with strong comedic sensibilities and a fantastically dry sense of humor.

We also particularly enjoyed the performance of Keren Lugo who in one one scene demonstrated bilingual skills in English and Spanish while jumping between phone calls and in a later scene became overwhelmed with a mystery sickness.

The talented cast is large and clearly game for the play’s eclectic style. Many performers take on multiple roles, shifting between emotional exchanges, absurd humor, and choreographed sequences. The result feels intentionally chaotic in places, though the ensemble under the expert direction of Scott Illingworth keeps the momentum moving forward.

As has become something of a recurring theme from the productions we have seen at HERE, the technical design is excellent. The Circle K set is simple but striking, lit with stark fluorescent strip lighting that instantly evokes the unmistakable atmosphere of a late night gas station. The lighting and sound design work together to subtly reinforce the strange distortions in time and space suggested by the script.

Entangled is an ambitious and often playful piece of theater that embraces its unusual premise and invites the audience along for the ride.

Entangled runs until March 28th, more information and tickets available at: https://here.org/shows/entangled/