Ever wanted to check out what a book club is like without actually participating in any discussion? This performance could be your chance.
An immersive concept play runs through to Feb. 2 as part of One Yellow Rabbit’s High Performance Rodeo.
“The First Bad Man” is a production of a theatre troupe out of Dublin, Ireland — Pan Pan Theatre Company.
The play is being performed at Memorial Library, and the audience is invited to play the part of extras in the story centred in a book club meeting.
Audience members will even get a copy of the book to read before hand, but no pressure.
Director Gavin Quinn said part of the fun of a book club is the penultimate question of who actually read the material, and nobody will be quizzed.
“Some of the performance is a little bit about the plot of the novel, but a lot of the performance is about how when people come to book clubs they come for various reasons, they come to meet people they come to socialize,” he explained.
Some characters can’t stay on topic- while others don’t want to stray.
While you don’t have to read the book to understand the show, Quinn said it will add to the experience.
“Knowledge does increase your appreciation of art, you get this wonderful shared culture and people really go for it then because they understand the references and it’s really good fun then, ” he said. “Because you are all one big family discussing a dysfunctional family and it’s fun.”
“The First Bad Man” runs Jan. 30 to Feb. 2 at Memorial Library, including two matinee performances on Saturday and Sunday.
Ticket information can be found here: https://www.oyr.org/productions/the-first-bad-man