So I finally had the pleasure of participating in
Crisis! Despite—ironically enough—a transport worker's strike that has shuttered French rail, I managed to make it up to London in time for the show and had an absolutely wonderful time, as did all of my fellow participants. I was legitimately surprised when we won our no-confidence vote, and very glad that we were able to give a happy ending to the very last performance (for now, I hope!) of the show.
I think the whole thing provides an interesting case study in group dynamics. At the beginning, many of the participants (myself included, though as much because of my accent as anything else) hung back and were very reluctant to take on responsibilities for fear of embarrassing themselves or screwing up. Yet as the night went on and the pressure started to mount, everyone started to lean more into their role and take more decisive action. What really put me in awe, though, was the sheer complexity of the whole thing—especially the use of the telephones, radio and TV, which made it feel like the world of
Crisis stretched far beyond the confines of that single room and that the London which awaited us outside truly was one of striking lorry drivers, Civil Defense and Concordes touching down at Heathrow with former Viscounts Stansgate in tow. It's a real testament to the acting skills of
@Meadow and the rest of the Parabolic Theatre Company not only that they were able to create such a cohesive and immersive environment, but that that environment never responded to a decision we made in a way that felt at all forced or unnatural. I can only imagine the kind of strain that must have put on the actors, especially the ones who were in the room for the entirety of the show (please send my compliments to the actress who coordinated the politics side of things—when I offered to bring her a glass of water 140 minutes into the show, I am about 85% sure she wasn't in character when she accepted).
What really made the night for me, though, was when Meadow came up to me personally right after the show to ask how I enjoyed it. It was the first time I'd ever met someone else in real life who shares a passion for alternate history, and it was of course an honor to shake the hand of one of the co-authors of
Agent Lavender. If I could re-plan the trip, I would have booked a later flight back so that I could have stayed behind a bit longer to chat with the actors.
Overall, it was an incredible experience, well worth the trip to London and the desperation that saw me dashing across the city at three o'clock the following morning to get to Charing Cross because Uber just lost its license to operate in London oh wait no it didn't but turns out my bus actually leaves from Victoria Coach Station oh god I need to go out jogging more. Suffice it to say that if the show does indeed come back next autumn, I will be back if at all possible, and I do mean
at all possible.
