‘Audience may find themselves having to participate in other, tangible ways, often acting as an actor ‘substitute’, or even an agent to propel the action forward’ (Tompkins, 2012, pg 10)

In terms of drama performance, the role of the audience has transformed through time as well as through genre. Traditionally, the audience are usually observers, merely watching the action in front of them. However in more contemporary theatre/experiences, the audience are regularly used as active participants on a variety of different levels. The function and result of active participants has been debated frequently. Some say that this type of involvement ‘dislocates’ (ibid, pg. 10) the audience from the site and therefore the experience; whereas it can also be said to add a dynamic component, providing ‘the opportunity to embody the site’, (ibid, pg. 10) making it an experience in multiple ways rather than it being strict and limited.

From the very beginning of developing ‘The Waiting Room’, the piece has been heavily involved with audience participation and interaction. I personally feel that this element works for our piece; we are in control of the situation by using instructions but the audience could essentially change the outcomes, creating a fresh dynamic. Small details have changed throughout the weeks, as to the level of audience participation, but this was a component that has stuck to us and the process. Our performance will use 2 different kinds of audience. The first is an audience that are a part of the piece but mainly observe with the rest of the audience participating through instruction.

This week has found this element being progressed even further through introduction of narratives and dialogues. After showing our progress to tutors and members of the group in the last week of term, we were given a lot of feedback to improve our piece and in particular the use of the audience. We had already created narratives that we read out during the performance but it was later suggested that these narratives (and a lot more) were read out by audience members. This would give them a task and purpose as well some sort of identity within the piece.

The narratives we have created all link to the several uses of the space we’re performing in as a ‘waiting room’. Including topics such as waiting to give blood, waiting to test planes and waiting to view a dead loved one, we also linked in some of the answers of the public research questionnaire we developed in the first few weeks of the module. To create more narratives, we are going to be directly using the answers from this questionnaire as inspiration for writing, with topics being used such as religion, justice and happiness. We have split up the work of developing these narratives as it allows for creative differences and varied types of writing. With this narrative idea, alongside the audience physically partaking and interacting with others in the performance as it happens, our piece is built and eventually showcased around the audience. Whether that is if they know it or not, written or being there on the day, our piece is (will hopefully be) as interactive as it gets.

‘Whether site-specific performance is interactive or downright confronting, audiences are rarely able to participate passively’ (ibid, pg 10)

References

Tompkins, Joanne (2012) The ‘Place’ and Practice of Site Specific Theatre and Performance. [online] London: Palgrave Macmillian. Available from http://www.palgrave.com/PDFs/9780230364066.pdf [Accessed 5 April 2014]