Theater - The Stranger: Much of AFTER's action takes place during coordinated bursts of light that reveal the positions of one or more performers. This gives the appearance of a film montage of still images, but instead these images are created by the performers moving soundlessly on a darkened stage to their next mark. The cues they execute are impressively tight, and the main cast is so practiced that there's no hint of the sprint necessary when they move during the three preceding seconds of darkness.
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This is the first time I have heard of a show like this and I am so intrigued. The main sense when people go to a performance is sight, and of course, that makes sense. But these artists are taking that sense away for part of the show and still figuring out how to make a performance that the audience will enjoy experiencing. The article talked about how parts of the show were just bursts of light at different parts of the stage. I love this technique used in theatre because it really makes me feel like the lights are a character just as important to the story as the actual characters. Often times in theatre the lights are there to enhance what is already there but I really love seeing shows where they exhibit the art of what can be done with lights and even in this show where they turn all of the lights off is an art. Reading this article about this show is honestly one of those times where I wish I was back home in Seattle so I can see it. But I am definitely going to recommend to my friends to go see this show.
The first thing I thought when reading this article is how they’re adapting storytelling techniques used frequently in film. And that’s clearly a part of what’s happening, except that, as the author explains, it manifests more as a hallucinatory experience than a filmic effect. I’m intensely curious about this show, and I get the impression that it would be one of those extremely rare occasions when I’d walk out afterwards thinking, “yes, this is why I do theatre.” Beyond all of that, when thinking about the actual execution of the show--performers sprinting across the stage in total darkness, a show most likely entirely comprised of zero count cues, etc., I think about the level of trust that is required to execute that level of precision. There’s no room for “what do we do if x is wrong or late?” Every person on the team must have complete faith that every other person is going to be exactly right every time, particularly considering the safety issues with performers moving quickly and frequently in the dark.
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