Claude Wampler: I loved it. The performance is not the performance.

The last Claude Wampler run is tonight, and I’m thinking about going for a second time. It’s a tricky one not to spoil, so I’ll try not to by saying that this was the most personal show I’ve seen yet. I’m not entirely sure, but of the 8 people I talked to while waiting or seated, I think only two were not involved in the show. I felt at times like I was the only audience member, and that’s something that no piece has done for me before. I got kissed on the forehead during last year’s Nature Theater piece, but that was the closest I’ve come to the eerie feeling that I am a part of the show.
Or maybe I am the show. Remember that Jim Carey movie The Truman Show? Where he’s the only real person in a world of actors? I couldn’t shake that feeling at Claude Wampler’s show, and I didn’t want to. It’s an amazing way to see the world.
I’d been tipped with roughly that much information beforehand, and I think that’s all you need to be in the right mindset. For the 15 minutes I waited in line I kept thinking, “has it started yet? Is this person in on it? Has it started now?” Then the same thing for another 15 minutes after the show–“has it ended yet? Is it really over? Are they all still here watching me?” Has it? Is it? Are they?
–Carissa Wodehouse
Blogger, member, enthusiast