Etiquette is a half-hour experience for two people in a public space. There is no-one watching - other people in the cafe or bar are not aware of it. You wear headphones which tell you what to say to each other, or to use one of the objects positioned to the side. There is a kind of magic involved - for it to work you just need to listen and respond accordingly. Some say it's good to do this with someone you know, someone to share this with. Others say it works well with a stranger.

Etiquette exposes human communication at both its rawest and most delicate and explores the difficulty of turning our thoughts into words we can trust. A young girl and an old man lead the participants into several micro-situations, often borrowed from film or theatre, wherein the private worlds shared between two people split and reform incessantly. We'd recommend anyone thinking of experiencing it to watch this great 10 minute excerpt from Godard's VIVRE SA VIE (at the bottom of this page), though it's not essential.

Alongside their innovative stage works (Doublethink, Five in the Morning) involving instructions to unrehearsed performers, Rotozaza here invite the audience to try it themselves. Etiquette offers the fantasy of speaking with someone without having to plan what you say, and the resulting thrill of disowning responsibility in a performance situation. Conversation is shown to be a kind of theatre whereby 'audience' and 'actor' roles are imperceptibly assumed and exchanged.

Ant Hampton and Silvia Mercuriali (Rotozaza) created the original version of Etiquette with the support of Paul Bennun, founder and director of Somethin' Else. Paul holds internationally recognised awards, co-authored the British Government's recent report on the future of digital music, and has worked with Artangel, John Berger and Theatre de Complicité.

Full credit info on all versions here.

TOURING INFO PACK > (5mb, pdf)

PRESS PHOTOS - UPDATED > (20mb, zip file)

funded by Arts Council England