All the world’s a stage, as theater-goers are finding out

By Bryan Lawver

They meet in firehouses, churches and abandoned porno theaters.  They mingle with fire-eaters and snake charmers.  They are young and busy, and they are here to see theatre.

Modern theater companies in Pittsburgh and around the country are interested in bringing theatre to new audiences and “bridging the gap between the street and the theater,” according to Jeffrey Carpenter, artistic director of Bricolage Production Company in Pittsburgh .

One of the ways in which experimental theatre groups accomplish this is by staging performances in non-traditional places.  Theatre groups such as Bricolage and Quantum Theatre often present shows in unexpected places such as firehouses, churches and pornographic movie theaters.

The distinction between theatre and public space is being pushed even further by groups such as New York-based Accomplice, from which Bricolage is taking cues.  Accomplice puts on performances on the streets of New York .  Audience members buy tickets in advance and are told merely to show up at a specific place at a certain time.  All they know is how long the performance will last.

“It’s a way of putting the emphasis on the experience as a whole rather than just on a play,” Carpenter said.

This ethos of creating a holistic experience through stage and setting can be seen in many experimental performances.

Earlier this Fall, newly-formed theatre company 404 Strand performed a rendition of Christopher Marlowe’s “The Tragical Historie of Dr. Faustus” at the Kelly-Strayhorn Theatre in which the audience was seated on-stage and the action took place in a small, cubic mini-stage.  Rather than entering the theatre in the traditional way, audience members were led by an usher through an alleyway behind the theatre to enter from backstage.

Another example is presented by the Pillow Project.  Headed by Point Park University dance instructor Pearl-Ann Porter, the Pillow Project offers a show the second saturday of each month featuring avant-garde dance performances.  Last month’s performance saw their studio divided into four rooms, each with space for audience members to sit or walk through, one of which contained a bar.  Throughout the night, dancers for the Pillow Project flowed freely through the crowd, sometimes invading the bar or briefly including audience members in the performances by a touch or a gesture.

This kind of audience participation is one area where there is no consensus.  Though experimental theatre, by its core philosophy, tries to blur the line between audience and performance, some do not like the idea of bringing audience members into a performance.

“I’m not interested in putting the audience on the spot,” Carpenter said.  “The ways we’ve chosen to engage the audience have not been such that they feel self-conscious.”

Bricolage’s techniques for audience participation include having audiences members vote on short radio plays during “Radio Series Smackdown” and writing haikus to be read as part of the performance.

“Ultimately there is something that is so isolating about the fourth wall,” Carpenter said.  “People are used to going to sports games or using computers where they can get into the conversation and really be a part of what’s going on.”

Carpenter sees this as a natural progression of theatre rather than a break from its past.

“You can look at pageant-style processionals or theatre festivals all over Europe and this kind of thing has roots there,” he said.  “I just think people are tired of the staid.”

Carpenter said that the audience for experimental performances tends to be younger, with more options for how they can spend their nights.

“People, especially the younger crowd, want to have dinner, go dancing, listen to music, so we’re trying to sort of bridge all those gaps,” he said.