If I Ruled The World

‘Have you come alone’? ‘Were you followed’? Press play precisely on the hour and the city (in this case, the concourse of the beautifully naturally-lit Brighton train station) becomes a film-set, its people extras and you the star. That’s the basis of this 20 minute interactive audio performance piece from local theatre company Nova Pitch. ‘Take in your surroundings’; ‘make eye contact and smile’; ‘follow someone…’;’go to the flower stand’ – throughout there are simple instructions made via an MP3 player where either you can be the ‘star’, or a witness to the unfolding drama.

Simple yet very effective, If I Ruled The World offers the chance for the audience to take it all in; to be slightly cut off from the uniquely chaotic hubbub of the station and, conversely, to engage with the seemingly mundane, the ordinary. The narrative invites us to explore and experiment, again delving beyond the everyday, perhaps looking for the sublime and the majestic in normal situations, such as watching the romancing couple. Meticulously planned, what you get out of this is dependent partly on your levels of self-consciousness and whether or not that hinders your ability to immerse yourself; at some junctures, particularly when we are standing outside the photo booth viewing a short vignette behind the booth’s curtains, or the closing scene where we are asked to slow dance with a random audience member, it becomes obvious that we the viewers are being viewed. We are all ‘stars’… the buzz was palpable!

Brighton Station, 19 May 2012
Rating:
Jeff Hemmings