Thrashing Without Looking

Theatre for the people, by the people (ie you)

First published on 30 Jul 2012. Updated on 5 Aug 2012.

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As part of Show On, Performance Space's mini-festival at Carriageworks, music-theatre-technology collective Aphids has created a curious experimental theatre mash-up: part-interactive performance, part-cinema, part-speed-date night (complete with plenty of potential for inappropriate touching).

A series of nocturnal vignettes loosely inspired by the imagery and mood of cheesy karaoke film clips, Thrashing Without Looking is just about as far as you can get from a passive night at theatre. Though you are gently shepherded and chaperoned by your hosts, your participation (and that of your fellow ‘audience’ members) is fundamental to how the hour plays out. Smile for the cameras, won't you?

Rest assured the experience – yes, even the part about being filmed and on screen – is exhilarating rather than confronting. Aphids orchestrate an atmosphere much closer to that of a house party than anything you think of when you hear the term ‘performance art’.

Frankly, to know too much more going in would be spoiling the fun. In the liberating spirit of this choose-your-own-theatre-adventure, you’re just going to have to trust me on this one.

Words by Darryn King |

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