Thursday, June 18, 2009

Project X

I'm currently at the national Summit for the Network of Ensemble Theatres. I'm taking in so many interesting ideas about how to create theatre as a collaborative group and how to derive plays from specific communities that I can't really process it all. However, I wanted to mention Project X, which Hand2Mouth Theatre is presenting at the Summit.

Project X is essentially a collaborative museum. Visitors share and record their own stories, and then listen and read the stories of visitors who have come before them.
The types of sharing range from pushpin maps, to anonymous surveys, to live moderated conversations with other visitors via headset and microphone. All of it is sorted through and complied for future visitors to experience.

Neon themed equipment helps get people in the sharing mood (?)


Listen to what others have recorded.
Project X is highly mobile and can be adapted to a variety of settings (as this 6 minute video demonstrates, along with more info on the project).

Project X: You Are Here, 6-minute overview from Hand2Mouth Theatre on Vimeo.

5 comments:

Landon said...

Reed should contract Project X to set up shop during RAW...

Landon said...

Although on second thought I think the project would be better in larger communities where people don't already know each other and so get to learn about those they live near and their commonalities and their varied stories.

Ben Colahan said...

I don't know, Reedies often put on facades and can get stuck talking about the same topics over and over, not to mention there are plenty of Reedies I never got to know. Project X might help people be more honest, share things they normally wouldn't, and allow people to hear the stories of students (and faculty and staff) to whom they would not normally talk.

Ben Colahan said...

Not to say that Reed is unique in this matter.

MF Connection said...

Could be a good stimulus to spend time sharing idea and feelngs with people we see frequently, as at work or school, but only superficially. Could also be a useful filter to find out which people we don't want to invest a lot of energy to get to know intimately, as in dating.