By Bethany Schaufler-Biback
Introduction
The 2021 Kingston Kick and Push Festival welcomed a participatory piece, Roll Models, to the summer season. Roll Models is an interactive improvisational show that invites audience members to participate and be a part of the story being performed. After interviewing numerous audience members who attended a Roll Models performance, both audience spectators and audience participants expressed an overwhelming positive recount of the show and experience. Seemingly, this appears to be a result of the care contract established by the actors and production as a whole, before, during, and after the performance was complete. Drawing on Nel Noddings’ Theory of Care, I will examine the care contract found within the Roll Models performance by looking at instances of reversibility, reciprocity, and receptivity.
Reversibility
For Roll Models, there were two possible roles an audience member could take on: the audience spectator or the audience participant. The audience participant’s responsibilities diverged from the “typical” theatrical experience that may be expected when attending a Western theatre piece. In this position, the audience participant arrived early, constructed a character, and actively engaged in the performance by taking on a character and offering suggestions to the performers. The choice of whether or not the audience member was taking on the participant role was decided by the member when purchasing their ticket. This logistical choice is notable when considering reversibility and audience care during performance. Having members make the choice before entering the space increases the likelihood that audience members would make the choice that is best suited for them, opposed to their choice being influenced by the environment with the actors present. Additionally, if the audience member decides later on that they rather not take on the participant role, they have the option to make that choice in a non-pressuring environment before they attend the performance. In one interview, a participant stated “like you, don't have to be a performer, but like as they said to me, I get like the first like five seconds of being there and they're just like oh, do you do theatre and I’m like yeah. And they're just like oh, because basically everyone here who like who likes to participate does theatre” (Davies, 30Aug20215pm-Group-RM-Transcript). Observing a consistent demographic of audience participants, specifically those consider themselves “theatre people” can indicate that allowing participants to select how involved they’d like to be in the performance effectively attracted the those who are comfortable in more active roles, instead of having the participant roles filled with those who truly did not want to be in the participant position.
Reciprocity
When considering care, reciprocity refers to both parties caring for each other whilst also feeling cared for themselves. In Roll Models, those who chose to take on the audience participant role were invited to arrive at the venue at least half an hour early. Here, they had the opportunity to meet with their actor, get to know each other briefly, and have any questions answered. These short thirty minutes had a substantial impact on how the audience participants entered the performance. In this time, rapport and trust between the actors and participants. One interviewee stated “you really got to interact with the cast members and get to know them on like a kind of personal level. Like, they asked your name, you ask their names, um, and they really seemed like invested in like a forming like a creative partnership with you during the piece, and that was something I found really interesting and really fun.” (Garnier, 29Aug20225pm-RM-Group-Transcript). Evidently, during the pre-performance there was mutual connection formed between both the actor and participant. This allowed for a foundation of trust to be formed prior to entering a situation that risks vulnerability and anxiety, setting a precedent of care before the performance.
Receptivity
During the actual performance, the actors upheld reciprocity and did not neglect the show’s audience participants. Throughout the play, the actors remained observant of their player and consistently check-in with them as they made their way through the performance. Receptivity was monitored by the actors, acknowledging when the participants seemed hesitant or unsure with what they were to do next. When noticing moments of in confidence or confusion, the actors were sure to kindly encourage or guide the audience participant to make their next move. When recalling their experience as during the show, an interviewee mentioned “and [the actors] would kind of wink at me at times like, oh yes, do it Stella speak up, I can see you want to talk. So, just that stepping in and out of the world made me feel much more comfortable” (Doyle, 30Aug20215pm-Group-RM-Transcript). Here, the actors’ ability to attend to their participants’ body language in response to the progression of the show allowed for a more comfortable and positive affect in an environment that risks causing anxiety or situations of discomfort. This added comfort within the performance was likely to increase the audience participant’s reception of the show as a whole. When people are comfortable, they frequently will feel more security that promotes participation even if there is risk of failure or embarrassment, because they feel at ease and trust the people they are with.
Conclusion
Overall, Roll Models’ implementation of a care contract fostered a confident and positive environment for the audience participants. The success of this structure can be found in interviewee remarks, reporting feeling positively affected after the performance, expressing eased comfort levels, and new interest in participatory performance. One participant even expressed “I think it opened my eyes to that participatory theatre isn’t necessarily anxiety inducing…yeah I just thought it was really fun” (Garnier, 29Aug20225pm-RM-Group-Transcript). Moving forward, the response from participants in the Roll Models can have applications when further investigating access and ethics within participatory theatre, demonstrating how through attentiveness to audience care and actual application to performance structure, unique theatre experiences such as participatory theatre has greater potential to be enjoyed by more audience members.
Works Cited
Noddings, Nel. Caring: A Feminine Approach to Ethics & Moral Education. University of California Press, 2013.