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March 25, 2023

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One-on-one immersive theater breaks the wall between actor and audience

By Yao Minji | 00:00 UTC+8 March 25, 2023 | Print Edition

Theater producer Weng Shihui took a leap of faith to return to Shanghai in November with two one-on-one immersive shows, and an international team of artists.

Such innovative and intimate forms of theater are still new to audiences here, despite the metropolis having welcomed all types of pioneering shows in recent years.

Despite all the twists and turns, the shows premiered in late February. This time, it was Weng and her team that asked audiences also to take a leap of faith — to be blindfolded, tied up in a wheelchair and pushed into a room where your senses are caressed.

Alexander Devriendt, artistic director of the Belgian theater performance company Ontroerend Goed that invented the shows, is confident such trust could be built, based on previous international tours.

“‘The Smile off Your Face’ is the first show that we traveled the world with. The first country we went to is Morocco. People often ask us what’s the difference between audiences across the world. What is fascinating is that the more we traveled, the more we saw similarities than differences,” he told Shanghai Daily during rehearsal.

“We take the audience on a journey and give them possibilities.”

“A Game of You,” on the other hand, is an encounter of oneself in a “labyrinth,” where the audience plays the main role and constructs the story.

Both are one-on-one theater, meaning the show is for one audience member at a time.

“Both shows are a cooperative investigation of trust and intimacy with the audience,” explained Weng, artistic director of the performing arts production company Tempest Projects that brings the shows to Shanghai.

“In essence, they are created in collaboration with the audience. The performer-spectator relationship is reimagined.”

The shows’ first round of reviews have attested to their confidence.

Both shows premiered in late February to critical acclaims, with top-viewed comments on Chinese review aggregate site Douban saying “buy tickets now before it gets too popular” and “refreshing and never seen.”

Now the artists will try out English-speaking versions, well, because “they can” and because “it’s Shanghai.”

“The practical answer is that we have such talented actors with international backgrounds that it would be a shame not to do it in English,” Weng said.

“Both shows grew out of a European context. It felt slightly like a different show when we do it in English and in Chinese, though the essence remains the same. It’s like a Bach’s variation. Different languages offer a different color, touch, rhythm and perspective.”

She also considers it a pity for a city as international as Shanghai to be missing quite a lot of international shows due to the pandemic over the last three years, part of the reason she braved to take the shows back in November.

“We were aware of the risks, in theory, but it still became more difficult in reality,” she recalled.

“We experienced the policies in all its phases and glory since the conception of this project at the end of 2021. We were walking on shifting sands as we maneuvered between different situations.”

Intriguingly, the unusual difficulties during the pandemic, in which many people around the world felt it was a test to their personal space, were a major factor that Weng decided to bring the shows.

“We lived in such an isolated state, yet collectively we experienced so much isolation together,” she explained.

“These two shows provide a space of 30 minutes dedicated to each person, for them to be heard, to be felt, to be connected in a strange and wonderful way.”

Shirley Yu, a financial analyst and theater lover, really appreciated such dedication and has been recommending the shows to friends while considering a second run of the shows herself.

“I’ve seen many shows in Shanghai, and other countries, but this is very unique. It’s not your average immersive show that is really popular now,” she said.

“This is not only immersive. For half an hour, I own the stage. All care and focus is on me. I actually felt cured. It’s also unique in the way that how you feel depends on your input and your interaction with the actors — it could be different for everyone, which makes it hard to describe. All I could tell my friends was — you just really have to try it!”

“A Game of You” English version

Date: March 28, 2pm

Ticket: 169 yuan

Website: www.247tickets.com/t/a-game-of-you

“The Smile off Your Face” English version

Date: March 28, 7pm and 7:30pm

Ticket: 229 yuan

Website: www.247tickets.com/t/the-smile-off-your-face

Venue: Shanghai Culture Square

Address: 597 Fuxing Road M.

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