U of C’s performing arts students have slew of ‘surprises’ in store
Back in the 1960s when I was taking drama classes at the University of Calgary, we created what our professor called A Happening.
The audience had no idea what to expect when they filed into our makeshift theatre space as we bombarded them with sounds, lights, quick sketches and, courtesy of myself, a shower of snowflakes if they dared walk under the ladder upon which I was perched with my bucket of soap flakes.
Fast forward to the university’s School of Creative and Performing Arts’ latest creation, Conduct, which its director Bruce Barton calls immersive theatre.
He refuses to say too much because he wants the experience to be unique, rare and unexpected but promises the performance “will include a range of experiences from subtle and intimate to large and spectacular.
“We have 70 students involved and they come from our music, dance and drama disciplines. To say much more would spoil the surprises we have in store for our audiences.
“We’ve been working on the show for 18 months, first with pockets of students working with their instructors. Now we are bringing all these pockets together to create our show.”
When I recalled my experience almost 50 years ago, Barton laughed and admitted “we’re not inventing the wheel with Conduct, but rather we’re celebrating that legacy you were part of 50 years ago. But there will be things in our show people haven’t seen before.”
The idea for Conduct struck Barton shortly after he arrived at the university in 2015.
He caught a music performance by professor Jeremy Brown, who is an authority on the life and work of Henry Cowell — a controver- sial and eccentric composer who developed some groundbreaking approaches to piano technique.
“The performance I saw was so physical and theatrical I knew it deserved to be turned into some kind of theatre piece. I just didn’t know exactly what,” says Barton.
With immersive theatre, which Barton says is popular throughout the world, “the audience is invited into the performance space to be surrounded by the show, rather than be asked to sit aside and simply watch.
“Audience members are invited to step into the world of the work they’ve come to see and become part of it.”
Conduct will be performed until Feb. 17 in the university’s Reeve Theatre, although Barton promises people won’t recognize it as that theatre space. And space is limited for each show.
“Because the audience members will move about the space, we can only accommodate 72 people at each performance.
“The show begins with people being blindfolded but that portion doesn’t last too long.”
Audience members will be walking, standing in small spaces with irregular floor surfaces and walking among the performers.
Barton realizes “not everyone has full mobility so we will make arrangementsfor wheelchairs at each performance, but wehaveaspecial performance on Feb. 13 which will be fully wheelchair accessible. It will be the whole experience adapted for restricted mobility.”
Because admission is restricted to 72 people, Barton advises people to purchase tickets in advance.
Tickets are $21 for adults and $16 for students and seniors.
Performances Feb. 10 and Feb. 13 to 17 are at 7:30 p.m. There is a 2 p.m. matinee on Feb. 11 with the wheelchair accessible performance on Feb. 13 at 7:30 p.m.