Suspicious Package: RX

No knee-jerk fan of either technology or audience interaction, I literally had to be pulled off a bar-stool and dragged up the street to participate in Gyda Arber’s inaugaural edition of Suspicious Package last summer. I was surprised to find it an extremely pleasant experience. A half dozen strangers are handed hats, ipods and character names, then sent on their way. The ipod delivers a series of commands (e.g., walk to such and such a location); lines of dialogue to read; old time radio style interior monologues; and actual movie-like scenes. Each participant thus has a different journey; each experiences a different piece of the same story, in this case, a murder mystery. It’s all a great deal of fun, although last year I did wind up walking a couple of blocks in the wrong direction, and then had to go really fast to catch up.

This year no one had to twist my arm to go (and Gyda’s a good arm-twister). I volunteered. And it was even more of a hoot. This year’s story is a science fiction yarn concerning an evil pharmaceutical company, a plague, nanobots, and mind-control. The mind control theme is reinforced by the fact one is being told what to think and do by an electronic voice for 45 minutes (which is less “science fiction” than you probably think, when it comes to that). Certain technical aspects of the experience have been improved upon over last year’s, and the audio and video vignettes contain a wider cast of characters, all duly hilarious.

They’re all my friends so I make no pretense at objectivity. I will say that if they asked me to play charades at a party, I’d tell ‘em to take a hike — but I’d participate in Suspicious Packages again in a heartbeat.

Go here, if you would like to live the experience: http://www.bricktheater.com/antidepressant.