In the past couple of months, many event producers and magicians have been constantly asking me what exactly is Street Theatre. I see this as is a testament to the uniqueness of Street Theatre. Meta Illusions is the first to introduce such a concept in Singapore.

Street Theatre in NUS Alumni Day

In essence, Street Theatre is a form of performance that breaks the “fourth wall”. The audiences become part of the entertainment, they contribute to the show. And that being said, each show is different as different audience members might contribute differently to a show, hence it is very important for the performer to be experienced and well versed in audience management.

Despite its novelty, we had the privilege to present Street Theatre at many different venues in the past 2 months. In July, Jonathan and I brought our Street Theatre show down to NUS Alumni Day at UTown. There were booths and other activities going on, and Street Theatre fit well in this carnival/festival setting.

Getting the audience in action! (Picture from NUS Office of Alumni Facebook)

In other typical magic shows, the audience members are regarded as passive viewers who would simply watch the magic without adding to the show. In our Street Theatre Shows, Jonathan and I capitalize on the audience members to create a new dimension of entertainment. However, that does not mean we demean the audiences, nor do we embarrass them. For instance, Jonathan has a segment in his show in which an audience member would challenge him to a duel of speed, in which the fastest hands win. You can imagine why each show is different as every unique member of each show reacts differently in these situations.

Alexander and a young member of the crowd

In one of the segments of my own show, I would request the assistance of a young member of the audience to help me. This is the segment of the show that I enjoy the most as it can be unpredictable what the child might do, and more often than not, it brings a big laugh to the crowd.

Street Theatre Finale

So there you have it! As much as I would like to share more about Street Theatre, the amount of study in terms of understanding human interactions and psychology is too much to pen down. And to perform such a show is definitely not easy as the script is extremely malleable and you always need to be on your toes to address the unique situations.

 

Signing off,

Alexander