Backwards @ B.A.C Scratch Festival 22.05.10

Backwards @ B.A.C Scratch Festival 22.05.10

As I walk in to the B.A.C I realise that this wasn’t your typical theatre foyer. Sure it had the usual stairway in the centre leading up to the performance space and the obligatory man stood at the bottom taking tickets as well as the box office where you could purchase you tickets to get passed this little man, but along with the traditional fixtures was a space filled with all your feedback needs.

A grassed area filled with deckchairs and plants where you could fill out your feedback form by hand while relaxing in the sudo-sunshine the space seamed to provide with it comforting atmosphere made filling out a form seam less of a chore.

For those in a rush a live twitter feed was projected onto the wall meant you could give your opinion about what you have seen in your own time as well as view what other people had made of it.

Don’t fancy writing? No problem. Feedback phone at your sevice. Take a seat in the cosy armchair, pick up the receiver, press a button and talk about the performance to an answering machine at the end of the line.

All of these data collecting little devices did one thing for me. Highlight the importance of audience feedback. This was what the festival was about- testing out ideas and getting an opinion about it.

Though in saying that I haven’t got a clue what to say about the performance that I seen ‘Backward’ apart from it was a simple concept executed in what would have made for a very tiring process. Starting at the end a working back to the beginning made you search for search backward for the information you had not get been provided.

Well at least this is what I had told the lovely answering machine at the end of the line.