Offending the Audience (2017)
Date of show: 10-12 Feb 2017 (4 shows)
Time: Fri & Sat 8pm, Sat & Sun 3pm
Venue: Esplanade Theatre Studio
Ticket Price: $38
You will see no play.
Four nameless performers, in a space without boundaries. No plot, no love nor sorrow, no more roller coaster narrative. And the stage does not represent another place. What then shall happen in theatre? When all pretence is stripped, is everything then genuine?
In 1966, Austrian playwright Peter Handke rose to prominence with Offending the Audience, a play that challenged perceptions of theatre and rocked the establishment of the day.
Five decades later, this special Huayi commission sees Young Artist Award recipient Liu Xiaoyi leading a creative team of the most outstanding Singaporean theatre artists—Nelson Chia, Oliver Chong, Li Xie, Ang Gey Pin, Darren Ng and Lim Woan Wen—to devise and create an original adaptation through relentless experimentation and dialogue. Pushing new boundaries in theatre, they rework the anti-theatre classic for a modern audience.
All lines between performer, performance, audience, stage and reality are erased, leaving an audience both thoroughly confused and challenged. Liu has created a divisive piece of work. But by all measures, it is a success.
– Myle Yan Tay, Centre 42 Reviewer
