Newly-founded Performance Interface Lab Launches Series of Interactive, Theatre-for-One Performance Pieces

The Performance Interface Lab was founded in late March 2020 in response to the closure of traditional theatrical venues from the COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing social distancing measures. Founders decided that rather than respond to a paradigm shift after it had occurred, they wanted to be at the forefront testing out how we'd need to adapt.

We've witnessed a widespread move to livestreaming digital archives - which in and of itself upholds elements of artistic classism, leaving the theatremakers who cannot afford this type of archiving or the level of spectacle that would pull a digital audience, in the dust. Zoom readings of canceled plays felt like substitutes presented almost apologetically - with a "here is what we would have wanted to do" approach. Several key voices came forward offering think pieces on why performance-based artists should stop making, however core founder and DC theatremaker Dylan Arredondo (he/him) argues against this: "We artists should not stop making - we should stop making the same old thing in the same old way. What is the nature of creating work that is as rigorous and as intentional now using the tools that we have (and do not have) to our advantage? How can we keep theatre ephemeral and reactive to the time and space that we're in? When we lack the interactivity of shared space, of togetherness, how must we increase interactivity elsewhere in the work in order to bridge that gap to achieving theatricality?" These fundamental questions were the basis upon which the Performance Interface Lab was founded.

The goal of the Performance Interface Lab (PIL) is to reckon with the spatial, social, and creative limits being placed upon us right now and to recontextualize them as opportunities to adapt and renew the platform of theatre. This is a laboratory intended to explore that. The lab has produced a separate series of live, interactive, at-home, theatre-for-one pieces to be performed in 30 minutes or less for each added month of stay-at-home orders. In addition to the currently running Lab A, PIL has already assembled a line-up of collaborators for its Lab B, likely to occur in May in accordance with Virginia's extension of a stay-at-home order until June 10.

Lab A, running from April 10 through 26, features 3 new works: woolgatherings, Couples Therapy, and OUT OF TIME. The core objectives of Lab A are (1) to create a piece to be enacted for only one audience member at a time, (2) to explore an element of interactivity to increase the sense of theatricality when we lack shared gathering space, (3) to directly engage with technological interfaces through which the exchange takes place, (4) to edit the work into a piece of microtheatre no longer than 30 minutes in length, and (5) to craft the piece into something repeatable under guidelines of social distancing specified by the CDC. Each work is generated and enacted by two collaborators from across the country, with at least one person in the pair being a DC-based freelance artist, and most of whom are currently out of work due to the health crisis. Through the model of Pay-What-You- Will tickets, the proceeds go immediately into the pockets of the freelance artists enacting your piece.

Crafted by Pete Danelski (he/him) & Jordan Clark Halsey (he/him), woolgatherings is an instruction- based piece investigating ritualized space, the nature of making connections, and the power of naming your "ghosts." Couples Therapy, by Lily Kerrigan (she/her) & Matthew Marcus (he/him), crafts an improvisation-based, problem-solving experience for the interactive theatergoer eager to dive

headfirst into a session. JoAn Cummins (she/her) & Susan Stroupe's (she/her) piece OUT OF TIME is a guided exploration of navigation and how we conceive of time.

Lab A runs April 10 through 26, Thursday through Sunday evenings, and Saturday/Sunday afternoons, in half-hour time slots. All pieces are to be experienced from within your home, and thus require a basic technical interface and WiFi through which to communicate. The interfaces (phone, Zoom, website, etc.) being used by each piece are specified on the website. Please visit the company at www.theinterfacelab.com to purchase Pay-What-You-Will tickets and learn more, and follow them on Facebook to stay updated on future lab cycles or to submit a proposal.

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