Interactive Theatre

[ladyeuthanasia]

I've been thinking a lot about the idea of balancing audience participation and storytelling. I've mostly been on the side that audiences can't get a satisfying story out of such an experience if they get too much input on the story arc.

A few years ago, I came up with the concept of a play that involves in Act I a series of characters each

Comments

[gotham_bound]

I don't know if it already exists but I had a thought something like it several months ago. I went to a reading of a play that is a retelling of Medea and one scene pitted Medea against Jason in a daytime talk show ala Montel Williams/Rikki Lake/whoever (not quite enough screaming and gender reversals to be Jerry Springer). The audience was played by other castmembers boisterously cheering and booing

[ladyeuthanasia]

That's cool! Good to know about the rigging. I have almost no theatre background, so that helps. What I can do in my off moments is create these characters and flesh out the vignettes over time. The voting could be as simple as filling out 3x5 cards. At least one of the characters, of course, did not fill out his own dating profile, but rather his brother/dad/other relation, so the actors could even choose who really goes out on the date. Let me know what you find out!

[freudinshade]

I read recently about a classroom experiment where there was a sort of instant quizzing device that was used every 15-20 minutes and it showed that people paid more attention in general when that sort of thing was going on. In a theatre environment, you could have more engagement, especially from the S.O. who may have been dragged in and aren't invested in the production in any way

[andelku]

Come to Chicago.

[ladyeuthanasia]

Will I get to see my idea? Or do my idea? :D

[andelku]

Well I've been doing interactive Shakespearian dinner theater and the South Asian version of the Vagina Monologues. I'm pretty sure you can do whatever the hell you want here. :D

[andelku]

An audience that has supported Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind for this many years is pretty much open to anything.

[aaronjv]

Great idea, I hope it goes somewhere. It certainly could, here, if we just had a script. I could get a theater.

[ladyeuthanasia]

Maybe once I'm finished with the first draft of the book I'm currently writing I can take a stab at this.