Location, location, location?

How important is the location or the venue of a performance? How does the venue affect the performance, actors and audience? Last week I visited Barmouth to see For Mountain, Sand and Sea, which was performed at various locations, including the beach, estuary, high street and a hill over-looking the town. I must admit that, beforehand, I was less than enthusiastic about the promenade nature of the performance. I much prefer to sit in the darkness of the theatre, unseen by the actors, than exposed to often participatory promenade performances. However, I am more than willing to admit, that on this occasion, I was wrong.

This production was a success, not merely because of the performances of the actors, but also because of other factors beyond the control of the production team and performers. I saw the show on a beautiful summer’s day, and saw Barmouth at its best. Had it been an overcast, or rainy day, the audience’s experience would doubtlessly have been different, and far less rewarding. This is one thing that theatre performances don’t have to take into account. In fact, it is often far more pleasant to be watching a theatre production, warm, dry and cosy, when the weather is at its worse. Rather than feeling that a sunny evening, that could have been spent enjoying the (rare) sunshine has been wasted in a stifling auditorium.

There is a much bigger fear of the unknown during an outdoor or promenade performance, this keeps both the actors and the audience on their toes, and ensures that no two performances are quite the same. Members of the public were often unwittingly taking part in National Theatre Wales’s performance on the streets of Barmouth, something almost unheard of within the walls of a theatre. Most seemed amused, or even a little bewildered, whilst a handful decided to play their part with gusto, from the man who jumped out of his front door, shouting “BOO”, to the man who accosted Marc Rees outside the Cambrian Establishment. In the theatre, an audience member’s mobile might ring, an individual might be taken ill or the fire alarm might disrupt the performance, but there is no real element of risk, no feeling that anything could, and might just happen. Traditional theatre has a safety net, that is all but absent from an outdoor performance.

Promenade and outdoor performances, especially those that take place on the streets of a town or village, bring drama to the attention of those that might not step inside a theatre from one year to the next, and this can only be a good thing. Making theatre a participatory, rather than merely a spectator’s activity, will doubtless inspire people to take part, and perhaps more importantly, inspire those that haven’t previously taken an interest in traditional theatre.