Interview | James Elliot and Kristian Santic, the creative minds behind The Time Travel Cafe at Anywhere Festival

Next up on my local artists interview segment is a roving, interactive, immersive performer, director and choreographer Kristian Santic and mmersive experience designer James Elliot; the two creative mends behind The Time Travel Cafe. Presented by Anywhere Festival and Spacefold Technology, The Time Travel Café is an open-ended 60-minute immersive theatre party, reminiscent of the Parisian salon culture of the early 1920's, with an absurdist twist.For one hour, audience are invited to talk, connect, question, console, and explore the patented SpaceFold timeless void-lounge along with travellers from throughout history. Here's what the Kristian and James had to say...

VIRAG: Your work The Time Travel Cafe is making it's Brisvegas debut as part of Anywhere Festival this month at the Canvas Club in Woolongabba. What's it been like creating an immersive, site-specific work?

KRISTIAN: The best parts about creating this kind of work are devising unique experiences for audience members, be it 1 person, 10 people, or 50. Because they're free to roam it enables us as creators to use tools and techniques not available in a proscenium or traditional theatre setting. So we really approached devising from an audience-first perspective, what can we give just one person? What can we give a group of people? and how can we engage them in a genuine, authentic way? The answers are infinite, especially with such an amazingly talented cast.

VIRAG: Has time-travel always been a great love and passion of yours?

JAMES: As someone who comes from the far future where time travel is as normal as catching a bus, I guess you could say it has. I have always loved the idea of time travel being something an entire society could do, that treaties and agreements could be set up between civilisations across time. I wanted to steer away from the classical approach which usually involves a single individual travelling on their own. I also think these big concepts shouldn't be taken too seriously. Being able to create a world where paradoxes are possible and yet don't break the logic of the show has allowed us a tongue in cheek approach that creates infinite possibilities.

VIRAG: Why have you decided to share this work and these narratives now?

JAMES: Coming together as creatives we decided to strike while the iron was hot. We brainstormed and devised an outline of this show mid last year and then decided: "we should put this on in May next year". We could see that Brisbane is growing in its enthusiasm and capacity for experience driven work and trusted that there would be an appetite for a high concept immersive show about time travel. As they say, there's no time like the present.

VIRAG: What do you hope that the audience feels after viewing your work?

KRISTIAN: Well that comes down to the individual. If we decided what that was, it wouldn't be immersive would it? It wouldn't give them the ultimate power to choose their own destiny or fate as it were. So when we talk about feelings, we must speak in generalities (like asking someone what they see when they look into a kaleidoscope) and leave the special and one of a kind moments to our travellers (audience). The deeper they go, the more they find. We hope they leave feeling like they witnessed or experienced something personal to them be it a glance from someone in the space, or an interaction, or even a one on one conversation. All in all, we hope they leave feeling special.

a??

The Time Travel Cafe will run in 60-minute sessions from the 5th of May to the 23rd, 2021

16B Logan Rd, Woolloongabba, The Tailor Shop - Canvas Club

a??6:00pm | 7:30pm | 9:00pm

Tickets: https://anywhere.is/event/timetravel/2021-05-05/

To post a comment, you must register and login.