13 May 2006

autobahn

Autobahn”, by Neil LaBute, is the latest theatre project developed by Teatrul fara Frontiere. Fairly entitled “a play for two actors and three spectators”, “Autobahn” is played on the very streets of our city, and implies four cars, in which the spectators are supposed to jump in rotationally.

I pretty much enjoyed the experience for a number of reasons. First, the feeling was great indeed, meaning that the actors actually made us feel we were entering some real stories of real people, while getting out of that car only meant leaving those people with their problems and frustrations and so on. It seemed to me far more authentic and engaging than a play on the stage and it was developed in the same line - of involving the audience and creating a whole experience - that i talked about earlier in my posts and that i deeply appreciate. The team accomplished this by thinking about all sorts of details and by creating an entire game around the project. You were supposed to make reservations for the tickets, after which you were called at a certain time, in a certain place, to look for a certain car from which to collect the tickets. And the tickets were not regular pieces of paper. They were nicely-developed keyrings. I liked this manner of creating the atmosphere. All in all, an experience i am not going to forget soon, as well as a form of art which appealed to me.
On the other hand, the project also had a strong advertising part (or so i think :D). The thing is that Mercedes Benz is one of the project's partners, which meant that 3 out of the four cars were (probably) given by the guys at Mercedes: a B Klasse, a ML and a Chrysler PT Cruiser. And, coincidence or not, despite the fourth car being a Dacia, we stopped for the small scene right in front of a Chrysler etc shop. Therefore, the play gave us a great opportunity to explore the cars in a really unconventional and entertaining manner. Also, a very engaging manner, because we had plenty of time to get familiar with the interior design, to use all sorts of gimmicks in order to make as much as possible out of the play and so on. It seemed like a really good way to bond with this brand. And even if the Autobahn's audience was not necessarily Mercedes Benz's target audience (:D), i still liked the idea.
And the reason why i am writing like this (ambiguously and all that) is that i'm deadly tired, so please forgive me.

2 comments:

This is Dandu said...

cool thing! i have to go and see that too! i'm really with you on that advertising involvement. It's quite interesting and innovative and good to explore as a different and probably more effective way of reaching the target audience! Definitely something to explore and look forward to!

Anonymous said...

While i was looking in my forum site on how to purchase on line a Mercedez Benz ML parts.. Someone notified that MB indeed has an advertisement in a role playing on a stage... Though he it was not that precise... Well, I guess I have to see it for myself. The way that you've describe it seems so catching, specially the advertising thing..