EDITOR’S NOTE: “Autoteatro,” a new experimental theater experience by the British troupe Rotozaza, turns the medium upside down. In this series of plays, presented by the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs’ Gallery of Contemporary Art and TheatreWorks, the audience members are the actors.

To capture this very subjective experience, we asked writers Lauren and Mark Arnest to describe what they went through Friday and Saturday:

Lauren’s take:

 There’s that voice in my head again, telling me what to do. Wait — that’s not the usual voice. How did she get in here? Oh, right, I’m sitting at a table at Shuga’s Restaurant participating in “Etiquette,” a short play performed by its audience. The new voice in my head is coming through a set of headphones.

 Across from me my husband, Mark, also sports headphones. He looks a little strange, and I can tell he is listening to a new voice also. We have each become someone else — or at least someone else is sharing our craniums.

Is this what it’s like to be an actor? No, a real actor would virtually become the character. I am my familiar self with an alien implant substituting its will for mine.

I become comfortable with my new overlord. Pleasant. No need to make decisions, just follow directions. Are my brainwaves flatlining at the same time my curiosity is spiking?

We progress through a dreamlike series of disconnected events, played out in our scripted conversation and on a miniature “stage” on the tabletop, using a set of props conveniently at hand. When the play ends, surreal impressions linger. The waiter comes to take our orders, and I’m half-convinced that he’s still part of the story. Who’s to say he is not?

“Guruguru,” perhaps the most fully developed of the shows, explores the very issue of technology used to direct the will of the masses. In Wondermart, not only my will but my autonomic nervous system seemed to be under the headset’s control. 

Mark’s take:

Who said all the world’s a stage? Because here I am, pushing a cart through the aisles of the Bonn Safeway, engaged in “Wondermart,” part of Rotozaza’s “Autoteatro” series. All three short plays — “Etiquette,” “Guruguru” and “Wondermart” – take place in more-or-less everyday surroundings, as the actors — and that, by the way, is you — play out a script fed via headphones.

“Wondermart” is a solo show in which you react silently to instructions as you wander through a supermarket. In “Guruguru,” five people confront their problems led by a computerized therapist in a windowless office in Plaza of the Rockies; and “Etiquette” is a surreal journey for two in the funky charm of Shuga’s. You don’t know what will be said to you — or by you, until the instant before you say it.

 Because the surprises unfolding in your head are part of the charm, I won’t say anything specific about the experience. But don’t expect a straight narrative: All the plays have their twists and turns. The whole experience was strange and exhilarating as I felt myself swept away in the moment.

 And I’ll never experience a supermarket in quite the same way again.

 I predict a bright future for this new medium: Besides opening up a new world of theatrical venues and possibilities, it’s relatively inexpensive, and getting less so every day. Usually you have to pay the actors. In Autoteatro, the actors pay you.

DETAILS

 UCCS TheatreWorks and Gallery of Contemporary Art present Rotazaza’s “Autoteatro” series

“Etiquette” by Ant Hampton and Silvia Mercuriali

When: Twice per hour, 11:30 a.m.-7 p.m. Mondays, 11:30 a.m.-10:00 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays; through March 6

Where: Shuga’s, 702 S. Cascade Ave.

Admission: $25 for two, price includes a free Shuga’s Sip; 255-3232, www.threatreworkscs.org or at Shuga’s. Advanced ticket purchase strongly encouraged. Walkups accepted only if the table is available.

“GuruGuru” by Ant Hampton, with Joji Koyama and Isambard Khroustaliov

When: Hourly, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Fridays-Sundays through March 6

Where: Plaza of the Rockies, South Tower, Suite 1100

Admission: $50 for a group of 5, includes $20 gift certificate to Nosh. By reservation only, at least 24 hours in advance; 255-3232 or www.theatreworkscs.org

“Wondermart” by Silvia Mercuriali with Tommaso Perego and Matt Rudkin

When: Anytime, but the piece is better if the market is crowded; through March 6

Where: At any not-huge supermarket near you. Call the box office to make arrangements to pick up an mp3 player between 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays

Admission: $5 (plus a $50 refundable deposit for checked out equipment); 255-3232 or www.theatreworkscs.org

Mark and Lauren Arnest follow instructions from a recorded director Photo by Caitlin Green

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