I was more inclined to intellectually analyse and consciou1sly deconstruct than to "feel" the performance and become absorbed by its journey.
Tropicana redefined its performance space on several occasions, often with no distinction between audience and performance space. being within the performance, in a sense as a performer oneself, left the audience unsure how to react. Many of the piece's early comic moments were not laughed at, as the audience were unsure of their role. When , in the second half, we were directed onto conventional tiered seating, the audience were much more willing to laugh at jokes, to "aaah" at the rejection of one of the characters and to talk amongst themselves, due to the return to theatre norms.
Exactly how important a tool performance space is varies considerably with the objectives of the work; Shunt actively seeks to reflect venue through performance, and the piece performed in any other setting would produce far different decodings and responses than were originally intended. With less site-specific works, the link between audience and performance space is less obvious in a venue sense. …
