Leaving a theatre and having to critique a performance for potential visitors, despite knowing that it will never be recreated in that way again, is an undoubtedly difficult task. By its very nature, Instant Theatre relies on the execution of its format to guarantee its success or failure.
The concept of “Instant Theatre”, as explained by director Diana Laurie at the start of the piece, is relatively simple. The stage is filled with hundreds of pieces of card, each containing song lyrics, lines from newspaper articles, quotes from novels and other random pieces of writing. Each actor has to pick a card and deliver the lines immediately, hoping to contextualise and narrativize these eclectic passages into a fairly understandable scene. Whilst some scenes take the form of dialogue, others are relayed through monologue in a process that inevitably delivers differing results.
There aren’t many instances in which observing a group of actors unfamiliar with their script and reading off cue cards would make for a particularly impressive experience. However, Instant Theatre provides just that, leaving the audience working as hard as the players to place these often-incoherent ramblings into an orderly context. That the action occurs within such an enclosed space serves to heighten this atmosphere in what begins to feel like a truly shared experience.
However, “Instant Theatre” is only as good as the cards that its brave players pick up. Whilst many of the sequences ranged from comic elation to hard-hitting contemplation, some of the more sombre scenes became rather irksome and exposed the flaws in a format based around delivering lines from random texts. At its most successful, Instant Theatre is a concept that doesn’t take itself too seriously and it’s unfortunate that much of the performance erred on the side of solemn.
However, the very edge-of-your-seat nature of “Instant Theatre” ensures that it’s an undoubtedly fun ride. Although recommended, the success of your night will rely solely on the cards that life deals you.
