Living Room Theatre

About Living Room Theatre

“Turning the everyday into art” is an exhausted phrase, I thought maybe we could flip it with a little arrogance - “Turn art into the everyday”. How do you make art into a toothbrush, a bowl, a piece of furniture? Something useful again.

So I set out to make “Living Room Theatre”. Now this has been a long journey and it is not even complete or perfect now, just simply a stake in the ground saying here is something, take a look.

I enjoy the absurd and strangeness, therein lies truth. Truth? Factness? A matter of fact? It’s like watching B movies, if the structure is good, visuals are compelling to the imagination, and there is radical choices in story, then you have ‘it’ no matter the budget. I’m not saying that “Living Room Theatre” has it, but it could.

This theatre is born out of living, being human, and enjoying another person. Drawing inspiration from Noh, furniture music, and Kids in the Hall it seeks to narrate the stories of everyday life. A decade was spent stepping back to reorient, refocus and master how to forget the noise.

The stories are shared life moments, the quiet ones with my wife, collected as mementos. Souvenirs from this life. They are written simply.

Ideally, these are meant to be performed by actors, but I’m on a budget. So you get them acted and sung by me on video. Terrible. I’m sorry.

The requirements if performed live:

• Masks for your characters. Don’t forget a mask for your narrator. I created these from old clothes and dyed them.
• A blanket, towel, whatever, laid on the ground to mark the stage.
• Should be performed inside a home that is lived in.
• The audience may sit wherever is available and comfortable—floor, couch, chair.
• The script need not be memorized; it can be written on the day of performance depending on the immediacy.
• Avoid judging your story. Write it, perform it, leave it. It’s meant to capture a moment, not to achieve perfection.
• Focus on the often-overlooked moments in life with another person. These may not seem monumental but are significant due to their abundance over the ‘big’ moments.
• Singing is fun, so sing if you want. It’s your choice on the type of performance, if it’s to be dramatic, tragic, humorous - it can change too each time it’s performed.

Go try it for yourself with others.

Video Scenes

• “Living Room Theatre” Playlist

Scenes included:

• Avocado Ghost
• Open Cabinet
• Soggy Breath
• Bulging Belly Banter
• Love Island

Masks