Sunday 20 March 2011

Heckling

I don't normally heckle, too much respect for anyone who has the guts to stand up and perform.  But I did heckle last night, so did a load of other people too - because if we didn't, the show couldn't go on.

'Star Destroyer' is a play written by improv veteran Lloydie at Nottingham Arts Theatre - set in an almost bankrupt planetarium, the comedy sets up it's stall with a bunch of odd characters and odder situations.
Actually, it's half a play - at the end of act one's cliffhanger, it's up to us lot, in the dark.  The audience gave a bunch of things the characters would have to improv about in the second act, and fifteen minutes later, 'our' play would carry on, with 'our' ending.

Nonlinear storytelling (which I first discovered as a kid with the magnificent Fighting Fantasy adventure books) is something that is becoming more and more feasible with the rise of programming technology; it's something I think we'll see more and more of as computer games become more complex in their narrative- and begin to influence other forms of media.  I wouldn't want every narrative I experience to end under my direction, but to watch a story you've influenced come to life in front of you was really exciting last night, and gave me lots of food for thought for how I could tell some of my stories in the future.

'Star Destroyer' is on again tonight (21st March 2011) - I broke my heckling duck last night, and helped to write a play; I wonder how it'll end tonight...

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