Video: Boca del Lupo's Red Phone is the acting equivalent of singing in the shower

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      Discussing pressing social issues with a stranger might not be everyone's idea of fun, but thanks to a unique theatrical production being held on Granville Island this week, it can be.

      Enter Boca del Lupo, a local theatre company focused on creating productions and performances in unconventional spaces. In the company's latest productionat the Fishbowl (1398 Cartwright Street), Red Phone, audience members become performers for five minutes at a time. It’s being put on in partnership with the Vancouver Writers Fest.

      The company's artistic director, Sherry J Yoon, began the project by reaching out to prominent Canadian playwrights and writers, asking them to write a short dialogue between two people.

      “What we asked them was, what is an urgent conversation that they feel Canadians could be having right now?” says Yoon. “’Urgent’ is interpretive with every artist, and most writers, when you give them that charge, it’s not a foreign idea, so for as many different people as there are on the planet, each dialogue is very unique.”

      In Red Phone, two individuals each take their place in a custom-built phone booth located on opposing sides of the Fishbowl. Inside the booth, a teleprompter commands them to pick up the receiver of the red phone in front of them. Then, Boca del Lupo’s technical director, Carey Dodge, acts as a live operator, cueing each person with lines of one of the conversations submitted by writers and selected by Yoon.

      What entails is a nuanced, five-minute discussion where audience members get the opportunity to ‘act’, reading from a script and taking on a position regarding a pressing social issue: anything from gender identity to human trafficking, and more.

      “This is for anyone who’s curious about what an urgent conversation can be for Canadians, and anybody who also wants to experience what it’s like to act, but privately,” says Yoon.

      “What happens when you’re on the teleprompter and you’re reading the lines, is you embody who you are, and you become carried away by the experience.”

      Red Phone will take place in 10-minute increments at the Fishbowl beginning at 7 p.m. from October 19 to 22, and between 1 and 4 p.m. on October 22 and 23. Expect a short waiting period as only two people can participate at once.

      Find tickets here. Tickets for evening performances must be booked in advance. On the weekend, tickets will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.

      Watch the video below to learn more about Red Phone from Yoon, Dodge, and artistic producer Jay Dodge.

      Amanda Siebert

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