Tassos Stevens presentation at Playtime.
The Performer walks on stage and hands out paper and pencils. General confusion as they get passed on.
The Performer is no longer there. He's left his bags on the stage.
People in the audiece start to comment on his absence. A mobile rings.
Of course, it's his phone. Noone goes to answer.
The phone rings again another 3 times. By now there's a debate as to who should go and pick it up. The different personalities in the audience start to emerge.
Eventually, someone takes the initiative, searches through the bags and answers the c
all. The tension has all gone now - "Should I pick it up", "Is he going to come back and catch us in the act", "Why doesn't someone in the fron row go for it". It is replaced by expectation... the 'volounteer' is standing on the stage, listening in silence to the person at the other end of the line.
All he ends up doing is dictate a statement of secrecy that everyone in the audience has to sign.
It was just a demo, so we snap out of it now. It has however shown how a few simple devices can create playful interaction in the audience. It could of course have panned out completely differently: an earlier response from the audience, a different volounteer...