What happens in the beehive stays in the beehive.
In this case, though, we aren’t talking about a hive run by bees. We’re talking about a hive run by Our Own Voice Theatre Troupe (OOV). This “hive” is a form of paratheatre, where the audience directly participates in the performance … well, if you could even call it a “performance.” “Experience” or “meeting” might be a better word.
“It’s been hard to describe to people,” says Sarah Rushakoff, who along with OOV founding director Bill Baker has organized the hive. “We don’t know what it’ll be until everyone arrives and kind of makes it what it will be. We’re providing different materials for people; we are providing the space and a welcoming environment. If they want to write, they can write. If someone has something with movement, they can move. And whatever collaboration, whatever creativity happens, that’s that night. That’s the hive.”
The concept comes from Jerzy Grotowski’s 1970s paratheatrical movement. Grotowski had grown tired of traditional theater practices and wanted to break the barrier between the actor and the audience by inviting the audience to participate in the creative process, rather than passively consuming someone else’s finished work.
“The concept of a spect-actor is definitely going to be in play, where the spectator is also an actor,” says Rushakoff. “But we’re not looking for necessarily a performance; we just want to observe each other’s creativity, and we will be an ‘us.’ It won’t be ‘us,’ the theater company, and ‘you,’ the spectators. We’ll be an ‘us’ because we’re all in the space breathing the same air.
“Since I’ve been with the company, this is going to be the biggest leap of faith that we’re taking,” Rushakoff continues. “It’s such a mindfuck to think of inviting people to a space where no one knows what’s going to happen.”
Put simply, the hive will be a form of play, with participants and OOV members arriving with no expectations or preparations, just an open mind. In that way, OOV, whose mission is to support mental health awareness, hopes the hive will be freeing and an opportunity for creative expression. “We always hope that our events are at least a little therapeutic,” Rushakoff says. “That would the best compliment — to have someone walk away considering what they just experienced as therapeutic.”
OOV’s hive will commence on Friday, August 25th, and Saturday, August 26th. No two hives will be the same. Tickets are pay-what-you-can and can be purchased at our-own-voice.square.site or at the door.
“As always, with any of our performances, especially the pay-what-you-can, if you can’t [pay], then you come in anyway ’cause we would miss out on so much if we didn’t let people come who wanted to participate,” Rushakoff adds. “We’re hoping to meet some new people who want to play with us and be a part of the hive.”
A HIVE, TheatreWorks@The Square, Friday-Saturday, August 25-26, 8 p.m., pay-what-you-can.