Promenade performance in Oxford

On Friday we went to Oxford to see my daughter Flo in a promenade performance of Chekov’s ‘Three Sisters’. When Flo explained to me that a promenade performance is one where the audience are put into the same space as the actors and the performance happens amongst the audience, I was a bit dubious about whether I would enjoy it. However I found it much more interesting and enjoyable than I had expected. The performance took place in the Hertford College Bop Cellar, an intimate space, which meant that the audience often had to move out of seats that the actors wanted to use. It was nonetheless very interesting to be able to walk around and watch the actors from whichever viewpoint you wanted to. So it won’t put me off promenade performances in the future.