A performance that only the audience can make
Ontroerend Goed, the theatre collective based in Ghent, is known for its experimental approach to theatre making. They have a long history at the Fringe, with shows at Zoo Southside such as Thanks for Being Here and Funeral. Their work has long focused on audience participation, whether by filming audiences and incorporating the footage into the show as an ode to them in Thanks for Being Here, or by relying on the audience’s live interaction with the space in Funeral. Yet even these works still depend, to some degree, on actors, directors, technicians or other theatre makers being present to provide guidance and lead the way. Handle with Care, which was previously workshopped at the Fringe, pushes this approach further by removing the theatre makers from the space altogether.
Once we enter the space, there is only one box sitting at the centre of the stage. The only instruction we receive is to sit on the chairs with a card on them, which reads: “the performance starts when everybody has had the time to read this and one of you opens the box”. What happens next is quite unexpected. Once the first person opens the box, the show begins without any member of Ontroerend Goed present. The person who opens it begins to hand out instructions to fellow audience members, setting off a chain reaction. Soon, audience members are following the individual instructions outlined on the cards, carrying out tasks without knowing what they will lead to, while collectively setting up the stage. They move around the space, search for other people, introduce themselves, shake hands and help each other complete their tasks. As the instructions progress, everyone is invited onto the stage for “6 minutes of chaos”, where we talk, meet and help each other before taking a class photo, hearing a voice message from Ontroerend Goed in Ghent, and making a promise to meet each other again in the future. The company may be absent from the room, but its voice from Ghent reminds us that it has not completely disappeared from the performance.
The absence of the theatre makers means that the success of Handle with Care depends almost entirely on the audience on that particular night. Fortunately, the fellow audience of my session, the first in Edinburgh, was remarkably willing to cooperate. People helped each other work out what their cards meant, walked around looking for the people or objects they needed, and gradually began to talk to strangers as the tasks brought them together. This makes the performance less something that Ontroerend Goed performs for its audience than something that can only exist through the audience’s willingness to participate.
The six minutes of chaos, however, can feel too short. Some of the words and drawings on the cards seem to deserve more time to be read, understood and appreciated, while some of the encounters between audience members are only beginning when the six minutes are already coming to an end. This feels less like a problem with the audience’s participation than a limitation built into the design of the piece. Still, there is something quite special about watching a group of strangers gradually work out how to make a performance together, while knowing that the people who created the instructions are somewhere else.
Show listing:
LISTINGS INFORMATION
Venue: Zoo Southside
Dates: 24th–30th August
Time: 13:30
Ticket prices: £18
Fringe box office: 0131 226 0000 / www.edfringe.com
Age suitability: 12+ (Guideline)