ETIQUETTE, ROTOZAZA (UK)

Rotozaza Directors Ant Hampton and Silvia Mercuriali have quietly established Rotozaza as one of UK’s most consistently surprising and creative performance groups since 1997. Etiquette is the first newly developed theatrical form they called “Autoteatro”, where the participants are both the actors and the audience.

It is a half an hour shared experienced between two people of the opposite sex in a public area. The headphones telling them what to say to each other and the small objects positioned at the side of the table were the things that worked out the whole play. The unique characteristic of this play is that audience themselves are involved and their minds were set to the extreme wild imagination!

On the 1st June, I attended to one of the events of the Singapore Arts Festivals which is called the Etiquette. It was held at Dome, a café in Marina Square.


Usually theatre play does not appeal to me that much because I do not find it interesting at all. The settings and the set up for a play in theatre are always predictable and expected. However the reason I found Etiquette very interesting was that this play neither have a stage nor a huge audience.


What attracts me most to this theatre play is because it was a very unique and far different from other plays. It involved two persons in a café with headphones on.
This is a play where the two participants are the only actors and audience. Your performing partner could well be your closest friend, or even a perfect stranger! Whoever you are with, it will be a fascinating revelation. It was held in front many café patrons who are not aware of what is going on between the two of you.

Personally, I found myself very feeling enthusiastic and involved throughout the whole play. It seemed that I was performing in the world of my own imagination. This play gave me a wider understanding and definition of what is play is al about. It is about language and the meaning of it. It was my very first time experiencing the magical of this play. Small figurines of a female and a male, a plastic house, a phial of ‘blood’ and chalk were the ‘props’. These ‘props’ can be found at the side of the table. There were instructions and guidelines to follow throughout the play and the participants were told to make use of these ‘props’ at the appropriate scene of the play.


I admit that some of the parts in the play left me flustered however, I enjoyed myself to the fullest. How I wish that the duration of the play can be longer.


I have learned many valuable lessons after going to this play. First it improves the way I speak and communicate with others. Speaking is a way we express our thoughts and feelings. I have also learnt to love and embrace the English Language. Lastly it also tests my listening skills on whether am I a good or bad listener. It taught me to be focus all time.


After all, spending $16 was not a waste of money!