Imagine being able to freeze a scene you find offensive and replace any character you choose.
Then imagine being able to change the scene to send the message you think should be sent.
Audience control is what interactive theatre is all about.
On March 27, students performed their original interactive theater piece “Swept Under the Carpet.” The department of Theatre Arts and Dance and the Biever Guest Lecture Series hosted the event as part of Loyola’s Student Peace Conference. Ben Saypol, the coordinator for Interactive Theatre California, directed the piece.
Saypol chose 10 Loyola students to write about racial oppression in either the Loyola community, the New Orleans area or globally. The students represented different races and brought a variety of ideas to the process.
“Most of the process was discussion. We began working on Sunday and didn’t get a script until Thursday. We were able to discuss issues that would normally make us feel uncomfortable but didn’t at all,” show participant and theatre communications freshman Gretchen Hirt said.
At the opening of the show, Saypol told the audience the three most important things in interactive theatre and in life are respect for yourself and others, giving others the benefit of the doubt and speaking from your own experiences. Hirt said Saypol started their workshop with these same three ideals and that doing so is what turned a usually uncomfortable situation into a more relaxed one.
“Mr. Saypol told us to respect ourselves and one another. So when it was time to talk about controversial things like race, we did that. And we weren’t uncomfortable,” she said.
During the performance, Saypol challenged the students to be honest at the risk of being offensive but also to anticipate counter-arguments and be prepared to explain. He challenged the audience when it was time to freeze the scene and replace characters.
He urged them to try not to perform “magic tricks,” things that make the situation unrealistic and remove controversy. Elizabeth Iafelice, theatre communications sophomore, said that the students were able to say “This is what happens and it needs to be said!”
The performance targeted the Loyola community. It portrayed scenes at The Boot, walking on Broadway Street and conversations in the Orleans Room. In the scenes, white students laughed as a black student ordered fried chicken. And performers told jokes about FEMA being an acronym for “Find Every Mexican Available.” In another scene, a black student called an Indian student “slumdog.”
Saypol had a message for the audience at the end of the show:
“Become allies and stand up to racial slurs, even if you aren’t a part of the targeted group,” he said.
One student said the event taught her a lot.
“The show itself inspired me and I’ll start being an ally, even if I have to lose friends in the process,” audience member and chemistry freshman Hillary McGowan said.
Kris Johnson can be reached at [email protected].
