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'The YShow:' The future of theater?

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Every audience member gets a communicator like this one at the start of "The YShow." It allows them to answer multiple choice questions, create 3-D images on a big screen, talk to the actors, and send text messages. (Image courtesy of "The YShow")
Shows such as "Tony and Tina's Wedding," "Beehive," and "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" are all examples of theater where the audience not only watches, but participates. Interactive theater has been around for a while, but at the Suburban World Theater in Minneapolis, a group is using digital technology to take it to a new level.

Minneapolis, Minn. — Alan Yelsey, a writer and educational psychologist, created the "The YShow" to trigger a conversation with audiences about the state of the world.

But it's the high-tech gadgetry that makes the play stand out. As a conduit for the conversation, Yelsey uses an electronic tool he calls a "communicator."

"What we can do now with that communicator device is capture the essence of what an entire audience thinks, see the range of their opinion, and do it instantly, do it anonymously, and then follow up with whatever that information is and address it as part of our show," Yelsey says.

Pretty impressive for a hand-held wireless computer that looks kind of like a Palm Pilot.

Every audience member gets a communicator at the start of the show. Over the next two hours they use their keypads to answer multiple choice questions, create 3-D images on a 26-foot screen, and at one point, use the communicator's built-in microphone to talk with the actors.

They can also send text messages, which immediately scroll down the left of the big screen.

Alan Yelsey demonstrates by asking, "What's the most important issue facing the country?" and then punching in his answer.

"Everyone in the audience is also pressing their words as well. And you can see within seconds what 150 people feel is the biggest issue facing America," Yelsey says. "Never in the history of theater and social discourse have we had the power to get an audience's instant answer to a question like that. It's the first time it's been done."

The primary character in "The YShow" is a psychiatrist who feels the world is headed down a dark, dangerous path. The audience is her patient.

Throughout the show, the psychiatrist probes the audience's opinions on social issues, from the Katrina aftermath to FDA regulations.

"Is equal, equal?" asks the psychiatrist. "Are the facts truly factual? Is everybody cared for? Is everything working? If the answer is ever no, then you have the opportunity to move the answer to yes."

Yelsey says he wrote the play because he was discouraged with the way theater and the media were addressing society's ills. He's also worried Americans just don't care enough about the world's problems.

"Our show is basically trying to come back to a foundation of what in the world are we about?" Yelsey says. "What's our country about? What's our government about and what are we supposed to be doing in our country? What is our objective? What are we reaching for?"

With its communicators, 3-D images, and multi-faceted interactivity, "The YShow" sometimes feels more like a high-tech quiz show then theater.

At its Oct. 28 premiere, there were moments when the video images were out of sync with the live dialogue on stage. Some audience members used text messages to express boredom with the show.

There was so much happening in the production that some things were bound to go wrong. But even on opening night, with the show still working out its kinks, most audience members MPR spoke to felt they had witnessed a pioneering piece of theater. Jim McPherson of Minneapolis came away feeling stimulated.

"It was a combination of live theater and like being at a kind of spontaneous, gestalted kind of meeting, where you get everything up on a board and talk about all these issues and make associations. Very nice," McPherson said.

Others were just happy to participate. Ray Hanson of Minneapolis, a self-described Republican, said he didn't care if the show's politics matched his own.

"They asked my opinions, and I was able to give my opinions. And I felt empowered," Hanson said.

Only Sasha, an actress from St. Paul, was somewhat disappointed by "The YShow."

"I really respected the effort to do something different, but it really felt like I was in a Power Point lecture," she said.

"The YShow's" creators say it could offer a glimpse of the interactive future of entertainment. Down the road, they hope to stage more plays with YShow themes at the Suburban World Theater, or some other venue in town.

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