Crisis Actor: an experience where the audience calls the shots at Arts House

Unlike most theatre experiences, Crisis Actor encourages the audience to keep their phones on, as they become responsible for steering the story with their devices in this darkly playful show.

This world-first show, presented by Arts House in partnership with City of Melbourne festival Now or Never, is part surrealist comedy, part live comedy and part live-action video game.

In a performance that delicately balances silliness with solemnity, the audience takes an active role, using their phones to shape the narrative of the play.

“The performance is a competition between two actors, both trying to be the audience's favourite victim,” writer and co-director, Vidya Rajan explained, adding “it’s absurd, funny, critical but also quite emotional as it goes on.”

In this novel take on second-screen theatre, “there's a freedom for the audience,” that is not found in traditional theatre. Throughout, they interact with live chats, digital prompts and voting to sway the direction of the play and, ultimately, “crown a victim”.

When asked about the inspiration behind the play, Ms Rajan points towards the title for the performance, the term "crisis actor".

“This traditionally referred to an actor hired to play-act a victim for simulated disaster training. Lately it's become like a term for the alt right to discredit people who are going through things," she said.

“The term just keeps evolving, and I started to wonder what it will be in the future, especially as everything in our world becomes content and entertainment.”

By playing with the meaning of this phrase, the play explores the attention economy in our increasingly digitised world, creating a “spectacle” out of victimhood to question how, in this world, will people “watch and feel for each other?”

“We want the audience to leave feeling thoughtful maybe playful but also moved but the state of the current world. But they have so much agency, and we really try to maintain that, so there's a lot of freedom in how you can approach this work.”

Crisis Actor opens on at Arts House on August 27 and runs until August 31. Tickets can be found at artshouse.com.au •