Socially Distanced Anarchy Runs Amok in ‘#txtshow (on the internet)’ (Review)

“If you don’t like the show that is a YOU problem, it is YOUR fault, but only a little bit, it is collectively everyone’s fault if you don’t like the show,” says charismatic facilitator Genny as she rattles off an energetic onboarding spiel.

Good luck getting strangers to collaborate over Zoom, I think, but what happens next is, strangely, exactly that.

#txtshow (on the internet) is the quarantine version of performance artist Brian Feldman’s in-person, live texting piece. Taking place over Zoom, the audience are required to rename their profiles as “Anonymous” and leave both video and audio on while they watch, and ultimately create, that evening’s performance. During the onboarding speech, participants are instructed to privately message the character of “txt” (aka show creator Brian Feldman) with proposed dialogue and text for the evening’s script. Aside from asking us to please not make txt shout “Fire!” in a residential building, there aren’t very many limitations given. After the onboarding is finished, txt enters the frame and sits in an unremarkable room at a table with a mug placed on it. Then he waits.

What happens next is something like what I would imagine a freshman year college devising course might look like if the professor didn’t show up for class one day. As participants begin to feel more comfortable behaving within the world, more and more lines and actions are fed to txt through Zoom direct messaging. After attending this experience twice, I can confirm that the quality of the experience depends highly on the maturity and intention of your fellow participants. Because participants don’t know what others are sending in, #txtshow (on the internet) is truly a lawless land which can result in the magic of related lines timing out near each other or someone having txt scream, “FLAAAAAAAGELLLLLSSSS!!!!” repeatedly throughout the event. Since it doesn’t seem that Feldman is making any editorial choices in real time and literally performs the text as a stream of consciousness, it’s truly your choice what he says.

Of course, there is a certain allure to having a performer at your disposal to enact literally whatever you fancy. I mean, everyone has wanted to make someone dance around like a mouse chasing cheese at some point right? But the thrill of that almost taboo silliness and magnitude of power only lasts for so long. About halfway through the first performance, I found myself checking out, mostly due to the vulgar nature of what was being submitted at that time, but in the midst of all the grade school-style anatomical comments, I began to notice that there was at least one person who really understood how to work this structure. After suffering through another fart joke, txt suddenly announces to us that due to the positive reception of tonight’s performance, the show will now last 72 hours instead of just one. Now that line made me laugh; it was perfectly crafted to sound official and Feldman’s performance was spot on, so it was hard to tell whether it was a serious statement or not. This was when I realized there was a much more interesting way to “play” the game of #txtshow. This insight is what eventually compelled me to return the next night. How could I manipulate the situation in a way that feels realistic? What could I make the audience believe to be true?

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The second time I attended, I had a lot more fun at #txtshow because it was almost like I had a newfound strategy. I found myself wanting to be better and better at what I could trick the other participants into believing was happening in terms of the actual production. I was aiming to create moments that rode the fine line of reality versus fiction, with the goal of participants doubting whether or not what Feldman said was a real announcement from the production. Going in with a “game plan” (so to speak) led to a more interesting and fulfilling experience for me personally. However, I’m sure folks would be just as interested to observe the event without submitting dialogue, because at its core, the concept of #txtshow is inherently intriguing.

#txtshow is a fascinating look at the concept of acceptable behavior and what happens when audience participants are given power. With the ongoing conversation around levels of spectatorship vs. participation in immersive theatre and creators trying to prepare for every kind of audience reaction, I found #txtshow to be valuable and insightful as a research tool. I would actually describe it as a social experiment to see how different people use power and control (but also lack of control) in collaboration with or in defiance of each other. The possibilities of what can happen at a performance of #txtshow are as endless as there are people on this planet. Things happened that I, as an immersive creator, would have never predicted, but also that I, as a human person, wouldn’t have even considered. Even if you happen to get stuck with a “bad” bunch, Feldman’s performance skills are impeccable. Due to the unpredictable nature of the show, he ends up showcasing a range of actor calisthenics, which alone is worth a watch.

With #txtshow, Feldman has succeeded at creating something that tests the limits of theatre as a form and plays with the boundaries of the performer-spectator relationship. Although the piece may be uncomfortable to jump into at first, this is a piece that any theatre-goer can attend and still take something of value away, even if just an admiration for the multitude of ways one person can find to shout the word “FLAGELS!!!!”

#txtshow (on the internet) continues on July 28 and August 1 as part of FRINGEPVD, as well as on July 30—August 9 as part of the Minnesota Fringe Virtual Festival, July 31 with a Christmas-in-July special, and August 1 and 7 as part of Great Salt Lake Fringe. Tickets are pay what you can.

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