JOIN US FOR THE PREMIERE OF BLANK BY NASSIM SOLEIMANPOUR AS THE SHOW OPENS THURSDAY, MAY 16, 2024, IN THREE DIFFERENT VENUES AROUND THE TRIANGLE ON MAY 16-19 AND MAY 24-25.
Known for plays that invert theatrical conventions, Soleimanpour takes it to new extremes with BLANK. Each night, Nassim’s script, which is full of blanks, is to be completed by a new performer before a live audience. The play becomes a story machine to share the life story of the playwright, the performer, and a random audience member. In a joint effort between the audience and the performer, the script’s gaps are filled in to reveal a story that celebrates the human imagination. As formally inventive as it is engaging, BLANK reverses the typical theatre experience: A script riddled with blanks leaves the audience in charge of how the story will unfold. The concept might be simple, but the result is nothing short of empowering as a random audience member sees their future determined by the imagination of others.
This piece invites critical reflection on how our human identity constructs the stories we tell. Simultaneously, it celebrates theatre’s communal and elusive nature as audience members shout, laugh, gasp and collaborate to write the evening’s story, which is irrevocably theirs and will never be told in the same way ever again—a heart-warming tour de force.
