In many ways this is the ideal show for our current predicament. Open air, promenade, keep as much distance as you like. I joined a small group on a corner of Clapham Common, opened the App I’d downloaded and waited to be told what to do next.
What we did do was follow an actor around this corner of the common as her story unfolds through an excellent soundscape played through your headphones / earphones. She is joined by another actor. The location(s) aren’t significant. To say more would be to spoil it.
My problem with the piece is that even the dialogue is recorded, some mimed. most not, so the actors are almost incidental. I felt sorry for Katja Quist and Richard Heap who had to engage with the dozen followers and attempt to convey emotion in this way. It was also hard not to be distracted by the attention of the public, wondering what on earth we were up to.
Site specific, immersive work has given me some of my best and most memorable theatrical experiences, but this isn’t really site specific (it could be anywhere, and indeed is being performed elsewhere) and I didn’t find it immersive. I admire Katy Lipson & Aria Entertainment for finding something to feed theatre-goers in these times, but I’m afraid it left me hungry.
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