Do you reckon you’d be way better at setting up portaloos than Michael Chugg? Or better at picking the headline act? Debuting in Australia at The Street Theatre from 12 – 22 August is Best Festival Ever: how to manage a disaster from Canberra science- theatre ensemble Boho Interactive and members of Sydney’s Appelspiel.
Part theatre show, part performance lecture and part massive boardgame, Best Festival Ever is a funny and engaging interactive theatre experience that places the audience in charge of programming and managing their very own music festival.
Best Festival Ever is actually a fun theatre disguise for looking at the science of complex systems and asks how we can best understand and manage these systems we live in. It was developed in 2011 – 2013 through residencies at the University College London Environment Institute, the Battersea Arts Centre and Arts House Melbourne and first performed at the London Science Museum in 2014.
In it audiences are introduced to concepts from systems science, using the example of a music festival. Up to thirty audience members, in the intimate setting of the Street Two studio, are seated around a table and placed in charge of a new festival. The performance is run by Boho Interactive & Appelspiel with the help of a massive tabletop board game.
The audience takes charge of designing, constructing and managing their festival from beginning to end. From taking care of rowdy campsite parties to assembling the perfect line-up of bands, from dealing with artist tantrums to preventing fights in the moshpit.
And once the make-believe festival experience is over, audiences get the chance to chat with each other and a climate scientist about how we deal with complex phenomena in everyday life. The stellar Canberra science line-up includes: Will Steffen (Climate Council); Bob Costanza (ANU); Brian Walker (CSIRO); Nicky Grigg (CSIRO); John Finnigan (CSIRO); and Eleanor Malbon (RegNet).
Best Festival Ever puts everyone in the moment for every part of the festival manager’s rollercoaster ride and offers a fun, engaging and creative way to introduce audiences to the insights and ideas from Systems science.
“This innovative event offers a cocktail of Science and Art, was intimately staged in the warm Dana Studio. A witty script for the event left the audience amused… I would highly recommend it to anyone.” – PI MEDIA
Best Festival Ever: how to manage a disaster
The Street Theatre, 15 Childers Street, Canberra City West
Season: 12 – 22 August 2015
Bookings: (02) 6247 1223 or online at: www.thestreet.org.au
For more information, visit: www.thestreet.org.au for details.
Image: participants at a Best Festival Ever session (supplied)