Suspicious Package, The Fifth Wall in Association with the Brick Theatre, New York – C too

It is an understatement to describe Suspicious Package as ‘interactive’ theatre: when you turn up for a performance, little do you know you are the performance. In the tiny courtyard of C too, two lovely women in lacy hats, wait to assign you your crucial role in the interactive story. There you are with up to five other equally baffled strangers in funny hats having become a showgirl or a doctor or a ‘plucky reporter’ as I was. (I felt it was a fitting role considering I was there to review the ‘show’!) You are handed your own colour co-ordinated iPod and the fun begins.

What stood out was the level of hard work that had gone into this game. Each video iPod plays a story, tailor made to the character you are playing, and is linked with the other five characters’ iPods. When play is pressed, orders are given to the listener and they must be followed; I had to follow the showgirl without being noticed: so here I was, running around Edinburgh’s Grassmarket in a hat with ‘PRESS’ scrawled across it, pursuing a girl in a pink feather boa. Soon I am told to wait outside a knitting shop on the street and eavesdrop on the showgirl’s conversation with another character. Dialogue lit up on my screen and soon I was in a scripted scene as the tale unfolded.

For an hour we all ran around the C too venue talking to each other (only scripted talk, of course) trying out our worst American accents and blushing under the gaze of confused tourists as we ran past sheepishly. The detail of the software on the iPods themselves is amazing, reliable maps tell you where to go and clear instructions guide you on your way. Even though we had left the staff behind at the venue, the work that they put in for the software and the script alone is evident and impressive.

This was a truly unique experience that was initially daunting but surprisingly easy to slip in to. Highly recommended as it would be great fun for friends to attend (limit of 6 people at each ‘performance’) it was also a fantastic ice-breaker between us curious strangers, the discussion of ‘who dunnit’ went on well past the show was over.

C too, running until 30th August, on the hour from 12pm-7pm.  Full price £8.50 concession £7.50.

Laura Jones