Hong Kong audience part of the show in Australian theatre group’s debut performances

What happens when you take a piece of theatre off the stage, out of a performance venue and into a public space? This is the question Bruce Gladwin, artistic director of Australian contemporary theatre company Back to Back Theatre, asks himself each time he puts on the show small metal objects in urban spaces such as public squares, parks and shopping centres.

The answer, it turns out, is you will never know.

When the company staged the show on a bustling street in Paris, the actors were lost among the crowds. At a ferry terminal in New York, they performed alongside homeless people and waves of commuters.

Passers-by sometimes strike up a conversation with the actors, creating a sub-narrative. At other times buskers, musicians, skateboarders and even break dancers take advantage of the audience the show draws to put on a show of their own.

The most dramatic incident Back to Back Theatre has seen happened in Perth, Western Australia. There was a stabbing in the background and the audience soon found themselves surrounded by police cars and an ambulance.

“Every show in each city is totally different, even if the script is the same. It’s energised by the environment it’s in,” says Gladwin. “In a way, there’s a chemistry that anything can happen. The only point of intervention we would put on the show is if someone in the act or in the audience is physically threatened. We don’t mediate the relationship.”

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The cast of small metal objects is in Hong Kong to take part in Freespace at Taikoo Place, a curated programme of performance art.