From Dale Carnegie to Norman Vincent Peale (who coined the phrase "the power of positive thinking") to the current worldwide success of The Secret, America has long been addicted to self improvement. The Group, a world-premiere, audio-enhanced show by the Dodeska Performance Ensemble, takes a caustic look at this American obsession and money-making institution. Entering a supposed self-empowerment workshop, audience members don headphones to be led on a "soul journey" by an increasingly hostile Group Leader. In a sense, the audience becomes the piece's actors — even as its agency is gradually undermined by the Leader's hortatory and isolating monologue.