SIDE Pony Productions has created an adventurous novelty act for theatre; virtually establishing a new genre.
“The Confidence Man” characters Peter and Anita. Photo by Skye Sobejko
However, the defining features are non-actors (i.e. audience members) being the performers in large masks using smartphones with headsets to follow the action they play out. The audience is allowed in on the act to hear the voices inside the heads of each character. They choose who to follow at any given moment.
Drawing on the tradition of improvised theatre, “The Confidence Man” works in virtually the opposite way with very detailed scripting and highly technical means for interacting; still making for an engaging experience. While exploring its possibilities, the production keeps its aims simple. There is no depth to any of the characters or plot constructions. There is very little attempt at humour. This shouldn’t be seen as a negative. It is still the theatre of games with highly visual tensions to keep audiences involved.
It will be interesting to see how far the technologies of this production will be developed into a truly new theatre genre or whether “The Confidence Man” really is a once-off adventure with its creators moving on to new experiments.
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