Invisible Show II

The title is a misnomer. This show is not invisible. Quite the opposite. The drama is unfolding everywhere, hiding in plain sight, happening non-stop.

Invisible Show II is part of the gamut of shows using new technology. The audience meets amid the hubbub at the Pleasance Courtyard. Instead of going into a sweaty, dim theatre, headphones are handed out.

A voice crackles directly into the audience’s ears. It is an angry, stressed man in the middle of a phone conversation. He is explaining to an estranged family member why he can’t lend him any more money. And he is standing somewhere in the Courtyard crowd.

And so, over the hour, several vignettes unfold amidst the mainly unknowing punters. Relationships disintegrate, love takes its first fumbling steps, hearts are broken, lives shattered.

Only those with headphones are privy to the secret life of the crowd. As well as listening to the realistic and brilliantly performed script, part of the fun is trying to locate where the embedded actors are. Is that them by the bar? In the corner sobbing? Maybe it’s that couple sitting on the bench? It's like being in a theatrical version of Where’s Wally.

By successfully fusing Silent Disco with theatre, Invisible Show II gives the audience the superhuman power of eavesdropping. It also provides a human reminder that sometimes the greatest of dramas happen not to actors in theatres, but to people on every bustling street across the land. And ultimately even to us.