Audiences are transformed into active participants, such as in the Theatre of the Oppressed by Augusto Boal. Boal invented the term spect-actor in an attempt to break down the barriers between spectators and actors.
INTRO
Bergdís and Tinna were asked to enter a room and CHOOSE a chair that they identified with. The room was set up like a café. All the chairs had one word attached to them, words such as
Which way to go, which place to choose. Summing one’s life up into a single word is no easy task. Making choices that one can stand by includes giving up options for others.
Bergdís chose the chair that said Mother. Tinna was going to choose a chair that said Artist, but another person took that one, so she chose Icelandic instead.
The spectators are in the same position as the actors, needing to find a word that sums up their own being, and I want to start raising questions for the audience. How do they see themselves, and how do others see them? What is their role within society?
Bergdís’ phone rang,
rang
rang
Rang
RiNG
she answered and told her friend Nanna, who is late, that she has reserved seats and that she doesn’t need to worry, the show hasn’t started yet. She told her that people had to choose seats they identified with and that her chair said Mother. She said she would find a good word for her friend. Bergdís asked another person if they wanted to swap words, but then changed her mind about it.
By placing simple descriptions on each chair and asking the audience to choose one that they identify with, the audience is forced to put themselves in a box.
Nanna arrived, greeted Bergdís and blamed being late on parking.