Out of the Box in a Big Way

At today's Theatre by the River core meeting, I spoke to my fellow actors about changing up our regular style of theatre. We do plays - relevant, provocative, well written plays. We're proud of the shows we've done. And there's nothing wrong with the very traditional form of theatre we're doing - audience sits in the dark, actors perform a story, audience considers story. It has, after all, worked for a thousand years.

But I feel a desire to mess around with the form - the way we tell a story. Not only to more effectively convey ideas and feeling about the human experience, but to grab attention in an irresistible "I have to go see that!" way.

Which reminded me of French company Royal de Luxe. They do giant puppet shows. Giant in scope, giant in length and giant in physical size. A show featuring their building high puppets last several days and traverses whole towns, dwarfing the everyday life that tries (and fails) to bustle around them.

The Atlantic has some beautiful photos online of Royal de Luxe in action.

I don't think TBTR will ever become a giant puppet company, but I wonder: how can we take the traditional form of theatre and give it a funky twist. Thoughts?