The company then took the 147 recorded interviews and cut excerpts of them together to create a performance piece, or “sharing,” for the last weekend of the festival. Interviewees received a ticket to the performance, booked separately, with limited tickets available to others. It’s fascinating to hear what other people are nervous about, and the “sharing” feels like just that – an attempt to make us feel less alone in our fears.
Let me begin by saying that this was a staged reading of this play and not a full performance. Yet, I found this show to still be poignant, insightful and at times funny.
Zuppa Theatre Company’sThe Archive of Missing Things is being put on as part of Summerworks 2019 at The Sanderson Library (327 Bathurst Street). It is an interactive theatre piece taking place in the library with other patrons there. This show an open-concept, it’s performed throughout the library rather than on a stage. It has a digital component as well as live action which all melds together incredibly.
I’ll say here that I think The Archive of Missing Things is one of the most incredible experiences with performance art that I’ve had in recent memory. There’s a great deal of mystery and intrigue woven in and thus, I do think the best experience one can have is going in blind as I did. If you want, stop reading now and just go experience this wonderfully thoughtful show.
Sometimes I see shows where, even after reading the SummerWorks 2019 program, I have no real idea what to expect– and they turn out to be among the ones that I love the most. Footnote Number 12 from Theatre Replacement / Spreafico Eckly certainly falls into this category. In the program it says “This monologue for two people asks you to observe a creature — a creature whose voice is being repeatedly modulated through digital means.” A creature? A monologue for two people? A digitally modulated voice? Could it possibly come together into something coherent, something wonderful? Yes!