Theatre review: Nombre drives to the heart of our shared humanity
The participatory show in French at Théâtre la Seizième proves touching
Nombre is unpredictable. Photo by Stéphane Bourgeois
Théâtre la Seizième presents Nombre, an adaptation of the original production by Quebec’s Alpha Charlie Kilo, to 6, at Studio 16.
In Nombre, audience members are the cast members, but it’s not what you might think—you don’t need to worry about being called upon to perform charades or to sing or dance. You just need to be you, which is really what the immersive piece by Quebec’s Alpha Charlie Kilo is all about.
You do need to speak French for this production now playing at Théâtre la Seizième; although its offerings typically include surtitles, this one doesn’t, the show being unlike anything else in its repertoire in the sense that it’s fully improvised and participatory. You also need to be prepared to potentially answer a question or two or read a short text in front of your fellow viewers/participants. It’s all to break down the walls that usually exist between audience members, giving glimpses into others’ lives. And it’s a rather lovely, heartening experience.
When you first step into the theatre, after sanitizing your hands, you pick a card, any card; on it is your seat number. From there, a disembodied woman’s voice guides the show, offering prompts where needed as people respond to instructions based off a booklet that gets handed out early on and that uses a gamelike system of numbers to move forward.
On opening night, we discovered that one of the viewers is a comedian who also works as a doula; that one feels far more accepted by their friends than their family; and that another is really a kid who never grew up.
While every night is unpredictable, the narrator pulls together elements from throughout the evening to convey that despite our differences, we have so much in common. We’re all deeply flawed and exceptional. Touchingly, Nombre gets to the heart of our shared humanity. .
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