Saturday, May 8, 2010

Audience-Actor Ratio 1-200

You Me Bum Bum Train takes a single spectator for a wheelchair ride, on a journey of different scenarios that are made up of no less than two hundred actors and performers. A 40-minute adrenaline session gives spectators a condensed taste of real life situations (some less 'real life' maybe)- from going to the dentist, assisting a bull fight and being famous to becoming a translator of a language you don't even know!


Role reversal takes another dimension here, as spectators are not simply becoming actors through the interaction with other performers. The presence of such a large number of performers for a single spectator shows the attention given to each participant, clearly concentrated on the personal experience of spectators. They are cured, adored, provoked, put under examination by the performers. Hence, the strong impact on spectators, who describe it as one of the most powerful experiences in their lives. I wouldn't blame them, despite the fact that You Me Bum Bum Train is not real life. But how many times do we happen to have 200 people there for us, constantly creating an imput for interaction?

The concentration of different situations in which the spectator is put inevitably wakes up their senses, which is another reason why I find this participatory performance so interesting.

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