Would you fake having sex on stage for $250? Your reasoning should lie in Karl Marx’s theories of capitalism.
As part of the Karl Marx Festival at the Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, Bulgarian visual artist, choreographer and singer-songwriter Ivo Dimchev brought his performance “P Project” to the university on Oct. 17. This innovative performance requires audience participation as viewers complete strange tasks for cold, hard cash, putting Marx’s ideas of capitalism to use. Although the show may be free, audience members can leave with up to $250 in their pockets.
The program began with Dimchev walking across the sparsely furnished stage in an outfit we later learn he bought just hours before at a nearby Halloween store and chopped into a bodysuit. What was once a Ghostbusters costume, now resembles a thong and open button-up shirt. He sits behind a keyboard and sound machine and begins to sing. He recounts his recent arrival to New York City from Paris through song and how he came up with the idea for this piece: he had been asked to attend a festival in Brussels, but he had already shown all his existing performances. He introduces the idea of compensating the audience for participation, but no one could predict the true nature of the events to follow.
The tasks begin rather innocently. For the first round, two people sit at computers and type lyrics which Dimchev turns into an improv song. In the next round, a non-professional tap dancer appears on stage to accompany the newly-written music. Then, he is joined by a hip-hop dancer not very adept at dancing hip-hop. Suddenly, something shifts as two audience members are asked to kiss for the duration of the song — topless. The last makeshift song exists in the background as two attendees are stripped naked and pretend to have sex on a bed, which Dimchev dragged out just moments before. Each of the lovers received $250. The seemingly innocent participation grew more and more daunting, but as the challenge grows, so do the cash rewards.
Dimchev’s quick-witted remarks and beautiful singing voice from the impossibly awkward interactions that occur on the stage, making the performance enjoyable instead of cringe-worthy. Dimchev, on stage, emphasized that the point of performance is not the money. Perhaps, the willingness of attendants to strip naked for a small pile of change says more about the state of our current economy than the greed of the individuals. The chance to win money is more important than knowing the task you will be performing before you step onstage.
“P Project” highlights the quickness of capitalism — labor earns almost immediate rewards. The show closes with two writers on stage — one writing an overly positive review of the show and the other an overly negative review of the show. After presenting the reviews, the writers receive compensation from the audience, taking power away from the one in control and turning it to the population. Dimchev held the power throughout the performance, but in the last scene, he allows power to shift to the masses. “P Project” shows the effect of completely immersive theater. By engaging the audience entirely in the experience, it conveys a first-hand understanding of capitalism and greed and tests Marx’s theories in reality.
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