Upcoming dates:

September 24 - 26 > Derby Feste Derby, UK

October 28 - March 6, 2011 > Publics and Counterpublics , Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporaneo Seville, Spain (Spanish language premiere)

March 16 - 26, 2011 > Vooruit , The Game Is Up Festival, Ghent, Belgium

 

The audience, both of them, sit on the bench and speak. Not having met before, the conversation is naturally a little awkward...

So, a bench like any other bench. I suppose so. Take a look around. What do you see? Grass. Trees. Sky. Buildings. A dog. A dog? Are you sure? People. There’s almost certainly people. You can’t go anywhere these days without there being people. Anybody we know? We? Anybody you know? Do I know you? We share an acquaintance. Now let me look at you. Feel free

The Bench is a 45 minute experience for two people. There is no-one watching - other people around won’t be aware of it. You wear headphones which tell you both what to say and do (each of you hearing different yet synchronised tracks). By simply listening and responding accordingly the dialogue and small movements fall into place.

How do i end up on a Bench with a stranger? At the heart of the work lies a creative act of your own: an introduction. You and a friend (eg, ‘Bob’) want to do The Bench, but instead of experiencing it together you think of someone Bob has never met, but 'should'. You then arrange for Bob and your friend to meet and do The Bench together. Bob does the same for you: he thinks of someone he'd like for YOU to meet.

But... 'I have no friends' / ‘No-one's free’ / ‘I'm alone in the city!’ If there’s no way you can follow the procedure above, don’t worry, it’s likely the host organisation will pair you up. See individual event info for details. After experiencing The Bench, you're invited to add a placemark to a map showing every encounter so far. Over time, a worldwide and collaborative plotting of recommended and documented meeting-spots will grow.

Dates so far:

Norfolk and Norwich Festival Norwich, UK, May 15-16, 2010

Buda Kortrijk, Belgium - (Dutch language premiere) , July 10-11, 2010

Forest Fringe Edinburgh, August 9-21, 2010

Noorderzon Festival, Groningen, Netherlands, August 19-29

 

 

 

The Bench

Autoteatro for two strangers on a bench

text / dialogue by Glen Neath

concept / direction / edit by Ant Hampton

co-commissioned by

Norfolk & Norwich Festival (UK)

Fusebox Festival (US)

Derby Feste (UK)