The Show That Really Is A Party

Having just got back from Edinburgh, one would have thought I'd have had access to pretty much all of the experimental, avant-garde, promenade, cabaret-esque theatre I could ever desire. However, Edinburgh was almost entirely a washout this year in terms of me gracing the audience section of any play other than my own. Plus, any spare time was invariably spent desperately darting from one comedy gig to another, trying to stock up on knowledge of comedians for my role as co-director of Chatback Comedy Club. Even without these events hindering my theatregoing abilities, Edinburgh is not only becoming an expensive way to see theatre but also a place where so many companies are shoving their wares into your hands by way of flyers, it's often difficult to know what to go and see.

Last week, back in London, I was sent a complimentary ticket to a show called Office Party at The Pleasance, Islington. The email informed me that the show had been commissioned by the Barbican a couple of years back and had also played the Edinburgh Festival to great acclaim. Now it was back, boasting a cast chock full of some of my favourite acts currently gracing the cabaret scene. Was I going? A free ticket to something describing itself as 'an interactive theatrical extravaganza which features a veritable smorgasboard of stand-up comedians, and stupendously brilliant avant-garde performers'? Without a doubt.

Despite my initial fervour I got a little bit panicky when I first arrived at The Pleasance. Arriving a couple of minutes before the show was about to start -thanks to the area's apparent adoration for complicated one-way systems and sat-navs that announce a turning two seconds after you pass it- I dashed confidently into the theatre's main entrance only to be turned away and sent down the street to a double door marked with the ineffably dull name of 'Product Solutions'. Entering I was greeted like an old friend by a bunch of festively dressed beings who scrawled my name on a badge bearing the initials CSR and told, "We're going to wear these tonight. You'll be mixing with the other departments so not everyone is going to know everyone else". I was then told to skip off and join the rest of my colleagues from the Corporate and Social Responsibility Department "here at Production Solutions". Shell-shocked I wondered off, peering desperately at other people's labels, before being saved and/or assaulted by Cath from Domestic Services who wanted a chat about Primark and the fact that the CEO wasn't shelling out for a free bar "after the events of last year".

Maybe I'm a wuss but, despite being a generally sociable person, I quickly realised that a) this night was going to be one heck of a more participatory experience than I was expecting and b) very few people/if any had come alone as I had, and I was feeling a little nervous about approaching people. It didn't help that there was no clear delineation at this point between actors and audience so I had no idea who it was safe to strike up a conversation with. I dealt with this by approaching people who looked even more terrified than I felt.

I don't want to say too much about the rest of the show partly because I don't want to ruin the many secret surprises it's hoarding and partly because I feel it's truly a show that adapts to each individual audience anyway. My experience of it may not be your experience.

The phrases 'interactive' and 'theatrical experience' are too often bandied about to describe shows where something...well...happens or where there's a bout of audience participation perhaps. But this is really the full shebang. I'm not a huge fan of participating at the theatre. I often feel that I've paid to see professionals do their thing rather than humouring a bunch of attention-seeking, talentless fellow audience members. Office Party, however, treads the line between the two beautifully. There's a clear structure to the piece, actors posing as 'Department Heads' comically use a blend of script and improvisation to bond with their 'Departments' and, later, each gets their own turn to perform during the party whether they sing, pole dance, do stand-up or strip. There's a bar, a cheesy disco, party games with Departments competing against each other, prizes, guest cabaret performances, spoof motivational speakers and so very much more.

This feels more like an event than a simple show, it's refreshing to find something so entertaining and all-consuming that you really do enter a fantasy world for a while and any panic I felt at arriving alone melted away as boundaries were broken down and everyone started bonding over the peculiar state of affairs we'd all found ourselves a part of. No-one has to join in with anything they don't fancy and the place is so packed it's not a problem if you don't wish to do anything other than just observe with a pint in hand.

Yes, of course, there are awkward moments. Most of these occur early on in the night as actors desperately try to coax made-up conversations out of you before you're quite ready to leave your self-conciousness outside and enter the make-believe world of Product Solutions. But, since this is an unavoidable part of this sort of interactive event, they couldn't have chosen a better topic. Who isn't awkward at the office party, cornered by figures of authority and total strangers into making uncomfortable conversation about things you barely understand!? I bet this is the best -and most surreal one- you'll ever attend.

http://www.officepartyshow.com/

Whatsonstage.com Final Blog Post

Blog 12: Did I learn Anything?
http://bit.ly/oqEfvO

Whatsonstage.com Blog number Ten & Elevn

Blog 10: Art Meets Reality - and Panics!
http://bit.ly/pBCESG
Blog 11: Working the Fringe - Part Two
http://bit.ly/qJ7mBj

Whatsonstage.com Blog number Nine

BLOG NUMBER NINE: I talk about trying out some Edfest Industry events

http://www.whatsonstage.com/blog/theatre/edinburgh/E8831314443816/Working+the+Fringe+-+Part+One.html

Whatsonstage.com Blogs Numbers 7 & 8

BLOG 7: LUCY DANSER VS THE INTERNET
http://www.whatsonstage.com/blog/theatre/edinburgh/E8831313362103/Lucy+Danser+Vs+The+Internet.html

BLOG 8: EXITING THE BUBBLE
http://www.whatsonstage.com/blog/theatre/edinburgh/E8831313603250/Exiting+the+Bubble.html

Things ain't what they used to be---primarily me.

I haven't blogged on here for over a week now. Being in Edinburgh and producing my play Rachael's Cafe has taken pretty much all of my time and energy. Plus I often have very little to say other than what I upload on the Whatsonstage.com website as working the festival tends to shrink the world down to a tiny little bubble where nothing outside of Edinburgh exists. Obviously the London riots have broken through this protective little screen we so painstakingly erect between us and the real world this year, but although there is so much more than the festival to think about, it still tends to take over in the here and now. The result of this is that trying to think about anything other than your show usually threatens to frazzle your brain and greatly disrupt any small sense of equilibrium you may have established.

What I'm saying is that I'm an empty vessel right now. I'm finding it hard to collect my thoughts together enough to produce an actual coherent thought, I've forgotten the concept of mealtimes and I discovered that I only have to touch alcohol to my lips briefly to appear and feel instantaneously inebriated. I remember working the festival when I was 16 and effortlessly switching between painting the town red until 3 am (sixteen, I know!) and being up and at 'em first thing in the morning, flyering with a cheerful smile and personality on it's highest setting. I'm not sure when I aged thirty years or lost my stamina, but I sure as hell intend to find out this Fringe.

Until then? My cup of tea and bedtime book bid you goodnight.

Whatsonstage.com Blog's number 4, 5, & 6!

BLOG 4: EDINBURGH: THE EDGE OF INSANITY

http://bit.ly/pMMTJF

BLOG 5: TEETHING PROBLEMS

http://bit.ly/nyjKQn

BLOG 6: LIVING EDINBURGH

http://bit.ly/nOGvi7

Whatsonstage.com Blog Number Tres

Last of the pre-Edinburgh blogs. From now on it'll be the trial and tribulations of the Fringe from the middle of the melee.

http://bit.ly/pX4yyK

Whatsonstage.com Blog The Second

Exactly what it says on the packet. This is my SECOND blog for Whatsonstage.com, and it's all about how my Guardian Angels swooped in last minute to save my show.

http://www.whatsonstage.com/blog/theatre/edinburgh/E8831311982422/When+One+Door+Closes+Another+One+Opens...and+other+cliches.+.html

whatsonstage.com Blog

This year I'm thrilled to announce I've been given the opportunity to write about the Edinburgh Festival for whatsonstage.com. I'll be writing three/four times a week from the point of view of a theatre person going through the process of getting a show on at the Fringe.

My first article is here:

http://www.whatsonstage.com/blog/theatre/edinburgh/E8831311752132/A+FALSE+START.html

You better like it.