Fancy livening up your next theatre visit with something a bit different? Then, Person Spec at Newcastle’s Alphabetti Theatre should be just the ticket. This is not a normal theatre show. It’s a job interview. And you’re the panel.
Disguised as a corporate recruitment event, Person Spec is a participatory performance piece that invites you (and other audience members) to be an active and essential part of a looming first job interview. It’s created by Forest Sounds Theatre, a company that strives to push the boundaries between audience and actor, exploring how we treat others, and how we treat ourselves. Fostering the
feeling of the unknown, this bold and experimental company are returning to Newcastle’s Alphabetti Theatre for the Spring Season.
About Person Spec
So, what’s Person Spec all about? Well, our interviewee is Marion. She’s an unemployed woman in her twenties whose second language is English. Marion’s on the precipice of a whole new life and this interview is a huge opportunity for her.
Structured around a series of interview tasks, Person Spec enables the audience to facilitate and rate her performance. However, as the interview progresses it becomes apparent that these tasks aren’t intended merely for Marion. But they’re a part of something much more sinister. Whether the candidate succeeds or not is down to you and your fellow audience members. And Zantion Recruitment has every faith in you.
The idea of the play
How did this play come about? After writer and founder of Forest Sounds Andy Owen Cook was made redundant twice in one year and graduated into a global recession, the idea of Person Spec was born. The production has been curated by an interdisciplinary team of creatives from the UK, Spain, Portugal and China, with essential input from non-professional participants with experience of precarious labour. The structure and setup of the show reverses the traditional role of the audience, positioning them as the experts and authorities in the room. And Person Spec reveals the troubling implications when audience participation is laid bare.
Enjoy relaxed performances of this play at each Saturday matinee. Plus, there’s a captioned show on 8th March and an audio described show on 15th March. For more quirky theatre productions, click this way!
When: 28th February – 18th March 2023 at 7.30pm (Saturday matinees at 1pm)
Where: Alphabetti Theatre, St James’ Blvd, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 4HP
£: Tickets cost from £3 to £15 between 7th and 18th March and are Pay What You Feel between 28th February and 4th March. Shows are suitable for 16+ years and it’s recommended you book in advance
More info: www.alphabettitheatre.co.uk
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