Do you want to be a part of a play tonight?
In the first 5 minutes you know how the play will end. So why stay?
In this bare production by YESYESNONO, Sam Ward, the performer and writer of We Were Promised Honey addresses the audience directly and lets us decide the next hour.
The story Sam Ward has to tell doesn’t have a happy ending but by asking us if we still want to hear it, we decide together to unwind the story that involves us all into this knowingly dark ending.
A brave audience member says that they would still like to begin and so we do.
In a very seamless way, Ward manages to incorporate audience members in the piece while reminding us that we get closer and closer to the inevitable ending.
Is it still a one-person show if we are also helping to tell the story? This apparent one-person show quickly becomes a consensual agreement between humans to explore further into the story that involves all.
We Were Promised Honey takes the meaning of looking at the bigger picture and made it bigger. Projecting what our actions today in 2022 will lead to in 50, 1000, 10000 years covering the worst and best of humankind in this bittersweet experience aided by the stunning lighting design by David Doyle.
Ward puts into question the traditional roles of performer and audience member by taking the audience interaction to a new level with the continuous developing of the story around set audience. And because of this, the play feels quickly mouldable, unpredictable, and therefore exciting as we kept unraveling through the story together.
Though the guidance of Sam Ward, explaining the extenuating circumstances and asking some audience members a few questions along the way, the people that chose to carry the narrative have the freedom to interpret the environment and the words as they wish.
Sam Ward is what I can only describe as a selfless writer by putting aside whatever one might envision their play to be and allowing strangers to bring it to life. Only having the music and sounds which were possible with the work of Carmel Smickersgill to possibly indicate the atmosphere of the scene.
Even though we knew the ending it wasn’t just curiosity to see how it would go that made us watch during the 60 minutes. It was the fact that we were also effectively involved in the show.
At the end, we have the ending that was promised. Not honey. However, we are left with a sweet hope to keep going even though we already know how all of this will end.