The Edinburgh Fringe is almost upon us and to get prepared for another Scottish summer Read About Stuff is running a ‘Five From The Fringe’ interview series, where creative teams answer five questions about their upcoming Festival shows.
In this interview, I chat to Katie Gaven about their new show 00:45:00.
Can you tell me a little about your show and what audiences can expect?
Well, do you have 45 minutes? Just kidding! Five people walk into a room, and only one will make it out alive. 00:45:00 is an experiment that plays out in real time through the lens of a scientist pursuing an answer to the philosophical question: is one person’s life more valuable than another’s, and how can anyone make that decision?
Audiences can expect a gripping, immersive story that challenges them to examine passivity and engage in actionable change.
What drew you to this specific story, and why does it belong at the Edinburgh Fringe?
Imagine you’re standing in front of a lever connecting two train tracks. A trolley comes barreling down the track where five people are working. The other track has one worker standing all alone. Do you intervene and pull the lever to send the trolley down the track with one person, killing the lone worker, but saving the other five, or do you do nothing?
This hypothetical situation is called the trolley problem! My friend and I were
discussing this ethical dilemma when I had the idea of creating a high stakes
experiment that encouraged its participants and observers to make a life or death decision, and live with the consequences of their choice afterwards.
I think this show belongs at the Edinburgh Fringe because so much of the work that comes to the festival is experimental in nature, and I feel like there is a lot more freedom to challenge the audiences. The Fringe festival is one of the biggest hubs of artistry in the world, and I believe artists have the unique ability of exercising empathy to an extreme extent, so who better to unpack this story of ethics than theatre people!
What has been the biggest challenge in bringing this production to life?
Audience participation!! 00:45:00 is a play that invites the audience into the story in such a pivotal way, and that leaves a lot of room for crazy and unpredictable responses.
As the director/writer of this piece, I think it’s really important to utilize
whatever amount of audience interaction we get, and to be specific about what success looks like for each character. The play begins with a scientist speaking directly to the audience about their role in the experiment. Dr. Wilison is the bridge between the audience and the participants, so it was especially important to establish what a win looks like for her.
Doing so helps clarify what degree of feedback she might encourage, while still maintaining control. It’s important to utilize everything the audience gives her, regardless of how much it differs from audience to audience!
How does the design of your show (set, sound, or lighting) impact the presentation of your story?
Our design and technical elements have been another especially challenging and impactful part of producing this play. 00:45:00 works best when we are able to present our experiment to be as realistic as possible. Our goal is to avoid having to ask audiences to suspend disbelief as much as possible, so that we can focus on fully immersing them in their interactive role. So much of the realism hinges on how effectively our technical design can reflect a real group of people trapped inside a room, and how we can additionally establish that our audience is observing them through a two-way mirror.
We are so incredibly excited to figure out how to do this specifically for our
Edinburgh Fringe Festival run, so you’ll have to come and see our show if you’d like to find out how we’ve adapted it for our two venues!
If you could sum up the show in one word or phrase, what would it be and why?
“Who lives? Who dies? Who decides?”
Audiences will understand pretty quickly into the play that not all of the characters they get to know will make it out alive. It’s up to them to figure out who is going to survive, and who can’t be saved. The questions of who lives, who dies, and who decides will all be answered within 45 minutes, so join us August 17th – 22nd at thespaceUK @ Surgeon’s Hall – Stephenson Theatre and August 24th – 28th at thespaceUK @ Venue 45 to find out who will make it out alive!!
Tickets can be purchased here: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/00-45-00
