By ARIADNE WILL
Sentinel Staff Writer
Perseverance Theatre’s third socially-distanced show has everything to do with domesticated animals and social constructions.
“White Rabbit, Red Rabbit” is by Iranian writer Nassim Soleimanpour, whose presence and absence is at the center of this experimental play.
The Juneau-based production has no director, a different actor at each performance, and a script that the actor has not opened prior to the show.
In this way, both the actor and the audience are walking into the performance cold — and on tape.
The play takes place on a single Zoom call, and audience members are asked to leave their cameras on throughout the performance. The play, as audience members are warned by the Zoom software, is being recorded.
The recorded aspect of the play is not only equalizing, but carries symbolism in a play that is about the responses we have to others’ actions, and the trust we place in one another.
Soleimanpour asks again and again about conformity, and wonders at what point conformity will be refused.
This conformity is seen even in the visibility between the audience and the actor: the audience members can turn their cameras off at any second, but the actor performing must keep their camera on. The decision audience members make to leave their cameras on is, in part, a decision to stand in solidarity with the actor.
And this play relies on the audience — viewers are asked, at times, to write in the Zoom chat, to volunteer for bit parts, and to leave at a certain time.
But even the comfort of conformity presents a slippery slope in the performance, which asks the play’s actor to take a risk in order for the play to proceed.
It is the mutual bravery of the audience and the actor that makes “White Rabbit, Red Rabbit” an experience, rather than a play, and one that is well worth an evening.
Live streaming of the play will happen evenings Thursday, April 29 through Sunday, May 2 at 7:30 p.m. Tia Carrere will perform Thursday, Jesse Alleva on Friday, Ericka Lee on Saturday, and Frank Delaney on Sunday.
The show is available everywhere, and tickets can be purchased at ptalaska.org.
This show is not recommended for young audiences, as it includes discussion of difficult subject matter, including suicide. Perseverance Theatre’s website rates the play at PG-14.
