Would Like To Meet at The Barbican

Would Like To Meet at The Barbican

27 April, 2010
by: Naima Khan

The highly interactive Would Like To Meet leaves Naima Khan with a post-it and a few questions.

Ushered through a side door I haven't noticed before, I sit among five other audience members. The seat I have arbitrarily chosen corresponds to a random colour which assigns me to a particular route through the Barbican Centre. The route is explained to me though headphones by an evenly toned voice that slowly and clearly tells me what I should pay attention to, what I should question and gets me to think a little more laterally than I might have done without him. He also sparks a will to rebel and not listen to everything he says. But it's too late, my curiosity has been sparked and I want to find out what he has in store for me.


So off through the Barbican I go, required mostly to be observant, to notice the architecture and people. Things only get really interesting when odd and oft-forgotten details are pointed out and I'm directed to a quiet or secret place that few people will know about. It's at these points that I forget I'm part of an audience and start to feel like I'm on a mission.


There are sealed envelopes I could open, small objects I could steal and people who haven't noticed me. I can feel myself becoming slightly paranoid: is everyone a plant? Does that usher know where I'm going next? Does she expect me to get lost? Will she help me if I do?


As my little friend describes people and events, they appear before my eyes and collide briefly with each other. The experience becomes filmic: could I be watching the beginnings of storylines unfold? Will they be picked up later in the performance?


Disappointingly, no. From the get-go, there's an implication that I'll miss this nameless, faceless guy once he's gone. Sadly, he's not nearly interesting or amusing enough for me to miss but there is an odd sense of comfort that only becomes apparent when I take the headphones off and walk back through the Barbican alone at the end of the hour. It's short-lived though and I'm left feeling disappointed.


Non Zero One have crafted a performance with great potential but it's never quite fulfilled. The pace is varied only mildly, and while they champion the ordinary character, they fail to tap into what is compelling about the ordinary. Though the experience is interactive, we are given little purpose and things take a predictable turn. The production opens up possibilities reminiscent of a Choose Your Own Adventure book, but the stakes are too low for the feeling to linger.


The question posed – "can you miss someone you've never met?" – is intriguing, but the performance doesn't do enough to address it. There's nothing to make us attached to the disembodied voice in our ears. To the credit of Non Zero One, it will certainly raise different questions for each participant. 

Would Like To Meet Runs at The Barbican until 16th May

Photo Credit: Alex Brenner

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Naima Khan