Item #: SCP-ES-296
Object Class: Keter
Special Containment Procedures: SCP-ES-296 has been acquired by the Foundation, and its perimeter has been fenced to avoid undesired intrusions.
Aditionally, several joint outposts close to it manage SCP-ES-296's surveillance, research, and containment. Said outposts form part of Provisional Site-89. This shall continue until there is enough knowledge regarding SCP-ES-296's nature and exact properties.
Any register related to SCP-ES-296, be it satellital or historical, will be found and deleted by ESTIBEN.aic. This includes any possible mention to SCP-ES-296 in forums or websites of any kind. Posteriorly, all the individuals involved will be located, interrogated, and amnesticized.

Inside of SCP-ES-296. The origin of the image is unknown.
Description: SCP-ES-296 is the designation given to the Cresswell Theatre in Arkansas, USA. Said theater was used for leisure purposes from 1940 to 1976, remaining as one of the most important entertainment sites of the state for a long period of time due to the large amount of theatre plays that were staged there. However, SCP-ES-296's structure was already approximately 20 years old before its acquisition by Ron Cresswell, evident by its facade, which has an architecture similar to those used in Art Deco1 which was frequently used during the date of its construction.
Any individual that enters SCP-ES-296 will find themselves involved in what is currently believed to be a number of audio and visual hallucinations of undetermined nature. Due to this, the only available medium of communicating inside SCP-ES-296 is the use of electronical devices.2 Additionally, it is believed that SCP-ES-296 may have extradimensional properties, as its only known functional exit is its own entrance door.
All testimonies, excluding the initial log, have on several occasions reported the presence of short melodies in the auditorium section, as well as inaudible conversations in the dressing rooms.3
Addendum ES-296/A: Discovery
The Foundation discovered SCP-ES-296 in early 1977 due to rumours regarding anomalous events behind its doors; however, it wasn't until mid-2002 that SCP-ES-296 was taken under Foundation custody after several calls were made to local authorities by 16-year-old Harrison Roth from the Rison locality, which is two kilometers away from SCP-ES-296. An excerpt of the call is shown below.
Call Transcription
Subject:
- Harrison Roth
[BEGIN LOG]
911: Arkansas 911, what's your emergency?
Harrison Roth: They've took my friends. I need a patrol, something, please.
911: It's OK, calm down, we'll be sending a patrol to you soon. What's your name?
Harrison Roth: Roth. Harrison Roth. (Pause.) 16 years old, I was with my friends and they took them away, I don't know.
(Silence.)
Harrison Roth: (Notably altered.) I don't know, I don't know, I'm not even sure what the fuck just happened inside there, they just took my friends. Send a patrol now, I beg you.
911: Please, Roth, try to calm down and explain to me what happened the best you can.
Harrison Roth: I-I, I was with my group of friends, Jacob, W-Wade (His breathing begins to accelerate. He is heard whispering away from the telephone for a while.) God, Wade, God.
911: Don't worry, continue.
Harrison Roth: Yes, yes. God dammit, Joey was also with us. We went to an abandoned building that was two kilometers away from Rison; we went on Jacob's car because he has- (Slight sobs.) had a driving license and, w-well, we were just going to check the zone. We're a group of curious people and it wasn't the first time we visited sites like that, so-
(Pause. Harrison Roth begins to cry.)
Harrison Roth: I asked my grandmother about the s-site once, and she said no one remembered why it was there. And, and we felt only more attracted to the place.
Harrison Roth: Somewhen we began to hear footsteps; we didn't know exactly from where, but there were many. We tried to follow them to know what they were, c-carefully, very carefully, but they suddenly stopped. When I realized I was alone, I-
(Sobs.)
Harrison Roth: I heard them scream, run, and- (Pause.) being crawled. T-then I also heard several footsteps towards me, so I opened a door to hide. I stayed hidden in the bathroom and I didn't- didn't come out. I heard a man muttering and knocking on the door.
Harrison Roth: Eventually, the door opened. Some hours had passed, I-I think, and then I ran away when I checked there was nothing. I didn't look back, I just- just…
(Harrison Roth screams and continues crying.)
Harrison Roth: I left them alone, on their own. How am I going to look at Jacob's mother in the face? How-
(Silence)
911: I see. Could you tell me where you are right now?
Harrison Roth: E-Eh, I don't know, I'm in the middle of a field.
911: Near the building you mentioned?
Harrison Roth: K-Kind of, yeah.
911: Do you think you can rodeate it to get to the side of the road so the patrol can see you once they arrive?
(Harrison Roth's breathing accelerates notably.)
911: Hello?
Harrison Roth: (Hyperventilating) I'll try, but please, don't hang up, I n-need…
Harrison Roth: I need to talk with somebody, please.
911: Don't worry, Harrison. I'll be here.
Harrison Roth: Thank you, really, t-thank you.
911: Try to breath, don't worry. Did something else happen after what you told me?
(Harrison Roth stays silent for a while, then hyperventilates again.)
911: Harrison?
Harrison Roth: Yes, something else happened.
911: If I may ask, what was it?
Harrison Roth: I swear, I truly swear and promise that somebody said "hi" while I was running.
[END LOG]
When the authorities arrived in search of Harrison Roth4, they became victims of SCP-ES-296's anomalous properties. After inspecting the zone, nothing was found; posterior investigations on the building's facade showed that a group of teenagers had been there. All individuals related to the investigation and Harrison Roth, as well as his friends, were amnesticized.
We're all here. Absolutely everybody.
Addendum ES-296/B: Historical Registers.
SCP-ES-296 was originally founded in 1940 by Ron Cresswell, born in the US and 34 years old at the time. Ron Cresswell was a notable 23rd Generation Student of the Kirk Lonwood High School, in which he'd attended during his teen years. Ron Cresswell was, at the time, adept in both music and theatre, as well as other literary art forms.

Ron Cresswell, picture taken in 1930 at the Kirk Lonwood High School
During those years, Ron Cresswell formed a group of intellectuals focused on music and literature. Said group would end up becoming a closed club in the high school that managed both the administration of a part of the orchestra and the impulse of arts in the institution. The exact date in which the group was founded is uncertain, but it is known by Ron Cresswell's declarations that part of the idea of creating SCP-ES-296 would come from that group.
This led to, ten years after graduating, the foundation of the Cresswell Theatre. The objective of this theatre was to offer high schools from Arkansas and other nearby states the chance to exhibit their best works and earn a considerable amount of money for the centers themselves. However, all the works that were presented required an exhaustive analysis both by Ron Cresswell and multiple professionals from the world of theatre in order to ensure the works presented were of impeccable quality and would further boost the fame of the site.
Prior to the arrival of Ron Cresswell, the bulding was abandoned and all registration before his acquisition have been lost or destroyed.
The Cresswell Theatre suffered financial difficulties during its early years; however, it gained moderate notoriety and became one of the most famous theatre exhibition centers of its time, especially during the 60s, where a large number of works were exhibited, of which there is currently no record. However, there is also evidence of a large number of cancellations of multiple projects proposed by Ron Cresswell himself.
Despite this, the Cresswell Theatre was abandoned sometime in 1976. The reasons for this remain unknown to this day. The only register related to said date belongs to a publicity booklet.
According to some testimonies given by individuals who knew Cresswell, he had been, in the last years of the theatre, estranged from his friends.
Cognitohazard Warning!
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Addendum ES-296/C: Additional Information
REPORT AND ANALYSIS |
---|
Date: 01/03/2006 | Department: Memetics Dpt. | Remitter: Dr. Andrés Mondragón |
Nature: Infohazardous, cognitohazardous (?) and memetic | ||
Priority: MEDIUM |
On January 2, 2006, there was a considerable increase in the magnitude of on-site events related to SCP-ES-296 and its anomaly.5 Whispers began to be audible in a total of five meters from the entrance to it. Additionally, the main door and only known entrance to SCP-ES-296 was blocked, making any type of struggle unfeasible. At 1:00 AM, a melody was recorded inside SCP-ES-296 of currently unknown origin. The containment personnel were affected by it, after which the doors of SCP-ES-296 opened and all investigation and containment staff entered it.
At 4:56 AM, all individuals left SCP-ES-296 and its surroundings, later returning to their usual positions. However, it is known that a percentage of the staff was affected in a more severe way. All of the subjects who were disturbed during said event stated that they did not remember anything that happened during those hours. Two days after the incident, Senior Researcher Tristan Poole claimed to have remembered a large part of what happened. A transcription of an interview carried out is shown below.
Camcorder Recording Transcript |
In Attendance:
- Dr. Andrés Mondragón
- Res. Tristan Poole
[BEGIN LOG]
(Andrés Mondragón enters the room, waving to Tristan Poole in the process, who answers in the same way. Subsequently, Doctor Mondragón sits at the opposite end of the table from Poole.)
Dr. Andrés Mondragón: Is everything OK, Poole?
Res. Tristan Poole: For having been inside a containment breach of a memetic anomaly, I'm doing relatively well, yes.
Dr. Andrés Mondragón: Good to know. When they told me that you were involved as chief researcher in SCP-ES-296 and what happened, I thought that you would have fallen into a trance or something similar.
Res. Tristan Poole: Nothing further from the truth, Andrés.
(Pause)
Dr. Andrés Mondragón: So I guess I can ask you directly what happened, and what you think might have caused such an unusual reaction.
Res. Tristan Poole: Well, you could say that what happened was something similar to back when I was about to finish high school and went to see The Mousetrap. I don't want to take too many unnecessary turns, but that was the feeling I had. I've never been a big fan of the theatre, but maybe being with my partner at the time made me feel quite excited.
Res. Tristan Poole: When we all entered, we sat in the main room, I was in the last row, watching intently.
(Silence)
Dr. Andrés Mondragón: And well?
Res. Tristan Poole: Moon and a forest.
Dr. Andrés Mondragón: Elaborate, Tristan.
Res. Tristan Poole: It's the only thing I can say without an infohazard coming out of my mouth.
Dr. Andrés Mondragón: I see, you can say it anyway-
Res. Tristan Poole: [AUTOCENSOR ACTIVATED - HIGH MAGNITUDE COGNITOHAZARD MEMETIC - DATA EXPUNGED]
Dr. Andrés Mondragón: (Slowly) I'll have to take an amnestic when I get out of here. You seem to have a thing for the old days, those mornings that seemed sunnier, right?
Res. Tristan Poole: What are you talking about, if I may know?
Dr. Andrés Mondragón: I mean, for all practical purposes, everyone misses those days where they seemed invincible and ate the world, when the reality is that once they are outside, the world eats them.
Res. Tristan Poole: I don't think you should dramatize the situation so much, Andrés, the best thing to do is simply-
Dr. Andrés Mondragón: Get down to work and not wonder about things more than is really necessary; yes, I see it that way too. I don't want to know what actually happened in '76.
Res. Tristan Poole: Yeah, that's what I was going to say.
(Silence.)
Dr. Andrés Mondragón: So it was looking to spread, if I'm not mistaken.
Res. Tristan Poole: Indeed, and it is rare but logical really. What are theatres looking for? In addition to showing works, they must also be recognized so that there is an audience to show them to.
Dr. Andrés Mondragón: I understand, yes, it makes some sense. However, you stopped at the end. Where did it go?
Res. Tristan Poole: To the only place left, Andrés, in the forest.
[END LOG]
After the interview with Researcher Tristan Poole, SCP-ES-296 was inspected. In said inspection, no significant changes were found in its anomalous characteristics or in its structure. However, an envelope was found in the dressing rooms that had the signature of Ron Cresswell. The state of the documents themselves was partially damaged, however a large part of the content could be reconstructed, the transcript of which follows.
Addendum ES-296/D: Investigation Report
At the date of writing this document, the activity in SCP-ES-296 has been maintained at common intervals prior to the Sonata Incident. Additional procedures have been established for the containment of SCP-ES-296, and all personnel in charge have been amnesticized to prevent the exit of possible cognitohazardous agents of a memetic nature.
At present, the reason why the Sonata Incident occurred is unknown. Investigations in this regard are still ongoing.