A Possible Performance Outcome of our combined Research Projects. The performance would combine elements of our two research projects, The Invitation and The Unsuspecting Audience. We are interested in calling into question the roll of audience in theatre, and the role of theatre in society. We have an abiding interest in unconventional intersections between audience and artist, and between and intimacy and creative ownership; that sees theatre as an experiential rather than an expositional medium. We would like our invited audience to have the titillating experience of being performance shy, of an awareness of how much more interesting they make the world look, and to find collective ownership of an act of creation. We want to provide an opportunity for a completely original artistic experience that is as much a product of the audience as the artist, and endows them with an awareness of their collective and individual artistic power and a route to its true expression. As Antonin Artaud put it “A true play will disturb the spectators’ tranquility of mind and senses and will liberate his self conscious”. But while Artaud’s work strived to “bring the demons to the surface” ours strives to bring the beauty, the artist inside our audience, to the surface. Then there is the added layer of another audience. What we have called the “unsuspecting audience”, meaning the wider public realm, which we imagine would be an essential element in the experience. So how do we do that? Well, our research work with Nightswimming has been invaluable to us as a way to mine our concepts and shape them into form. Below is a preliminary outline of a project that we have been discussing since the completion of The Unsuspecting Audience. Costume continues to be the central component, as it was in both our research projects, and will provide limitations and possibilities for the audience as they approach the “game”. The ‘game’ is of course the second important element. -
The audience is dressed by us, as it was in The Invitation. The costumes, however, are varied like they were in The Unsuspecting Audience. The audience is introduced to the work (by way of description of the “game” that it involves. The “game”, for lack of a better word at this point, defines the objectives and the events of this piece. We imagine this game as analogous to a sort of maze (where an existing part of the city becomes our maze) or even a video game (where there are surprises along the way and an end point of victory). Once the audience is costumed they will be divided into groups and given different routes to the same destination. We like the idea of costuming and sending off one group then continuing our costuming of the next group, so that the portion of the audience that is sent out first will have the additional surprise of
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not knowing what they are looking for upon arrival as they have not yet seen the costumes of the others. The end point of this trajectory will be a new game element. We are thinking something dead simple, comparableto croquet, something that is expansive, visually interesting to the ‘unsuspecting audience’ and not too physically demanding. Ultimately the end of the piece has to be back at our geographical starting point and involve the transformation from costume back to the audiences’ regular clothes. It is important that this finale of changing out of the costumes be fun, entertaining and formal somehow. And to find ways to allow the audience an opportunity to express their impressions of the event. The questionnaires and self-photographing opportunities were fundamental to the Invitation - it was very clear that the volunteers wanted to tell us their ideas and feelings. A questionnaire is too private for the purposes of this piece but we will come up with a structured way to allow for this important aspect of the work.
There are specifics yet to work out but I hope this conveys a compelling idea to you. We would love to you both more about this if it interests you.