Recently in the Scottish Highlands, 260 theatergoers were led up a well-lit, pin-tree-line
Essentially, site-specific theater refers to plays produced in places directly relevant to their action. At the Museum Hotel in Wellington, New Zealand, audiences filed into room 217 to watch a tale about the various personalities who had occupied the room over time. " I think people are tired of the same old plays in the same confines of space, " says Paul McLaughlin, who produced Hotel. "Drama happens all around us—at the bus stop, in a supermarket—so we attempted to show how people can interact with the space that surrounds them. "
To be sure, on-scene productions present their own set of challenges. Producers of Black Watch had to scout around London for a location for when the show comes to the British capital. But for many audience members, leaving the comfort of their theater seats makes for a more meaningful experience. "A lot of site-specific work challenges the way you look and think, "says Nick Kaye, a drama professor at the University of Exeter.
Site-specific shows can also satisfy the growing desire for individualized entertainment fueled by on-demand television and the Internet. In Faust, which the London-based theater group Punch-drunk just wrapped up, audience members got to pick what they wanted to see. Housed in an old five-story storehouse in east London, the play featured different settings. Audience members could choose to watch a scene and follow certain actors from location to location. Felix Barrett, the director of Faust, says today's theatergoers expect more than just the traditional audience-actor relationship. "What I wanted to do was to create a piece where the audience can carve out the night they want to have, and it stays with them. " Creating a strong sense of place goes a long way toward a-chieving that.
Recently, 260 Scottish people went to a deserted water plant_______.
A.to tour a newly-built military base
B.to watch a play about military life
C.to visit a military troop back home
D.to attend a military training program