a) they could have picked up actors along the way - seeming “passerbyes on the streets of downtown TO could have been actors in disguise, brought in to take part in the scene. Think of the plot-development possibilities if, at some point, just one other character is introduced, and seemingly from just off the streets!

b) the audience could have been EXPLICITLY incorporated, rather than blatantly ignored to the point of discomfort. Say hello to us when we enter the car! Do something to inform of our role! Something!! As it stood, the actor who actually spoke never directly speaks _to_ the audience, but _at_them. two simple things would have fixed this: an icebreaker at the start of the show, and a minor tweaking of the monologue that gives the audience some clear permission to speak

I certainly don’t believe that theatre should be kept in theatres. Perhaps that wasn’t clear on my part (it was a question I raised, not a belief I announced). HOWEVER, I think that public performance art must be taken very seriously, because the level of social responsibility is raised when you take things out of the safely delineated four walls. You better take that ethical responsibility seriously. And you better be good. Otherwise, it risks bordering on just plain Showing Off.

but bah- i gotta disagree about the innovative-ness. but just in theory, since i didn’t see the show, so grains of salt people.

thing is- the back-of-the-car thing has been done a lot. to me it already sounds like a gimmick, and as alannah points out in her review, it’s a gimmick that’s freakin irresponisble in this late stage of our self-inflicted environmental precariousness and near collapse. i think art needs to get over the sense it sometimes has of being above pragmatic concerns. when it comes down to it, art is always bound to the planet and other people. showing reckless disregard for them is callous and very 1980’s. so over.

on the other hand, i also disagree with sarah here - i don’t think art should be kept to the stage or kept to contexts where it’s expected and sanctionned. public and unexpected art has huge power to reclaim some of our swallowed public space and create contexts for public discourse. i just think we need to be specific and deliberate in how we use art to engage a space. driving around in a car to me seems blinkered and wasteful, and not at all conducive to discourse or public shared experience.

unless you force it. challenging the rearview show to live up to its promises of proximity by talking your way into the it.. again- mad props for that one LM.

LM