Theatre Preview: Rabbiting on street corners

In Britain, some theatregoers may have avoided the Anglo-German, avant-garde performance collective Gob Squad because they sound so serious; in Germany, people say their work is too entertaining to be taken seriously. This contradiction is nothing new to a company that has spent the past 11 years battling with perceptions of what theatre should be like.

Sean Patten, one of the founder members, remembers the company's radical start: 'We were studying at Nottingham Trent University, when some German students came over on an exchange programme. The first project we did together was in a disused council house. We had synchronised swimmers in the bathroom, door-to-door salesman in the back garden and a woman, whose cake icing had gone out of control, in the kitchen.'

The English actors were then invited to Germany to perform this piece in a student festival. In 2000, they moved to Berlin to take up a residency at the city's contemporary arts centre. But despite financial support, the company has had to fight the country's traditional theatrical culture. 'They expect a director to put on a play in a proper theatre and that is the only way it can have meaning,' says Patten.

Super Night Shot is a radical departure for the company as it is performed in an actual theatre. Patten says: 'In this play we are a bunch of activists on a mission to fight anonymity, with video cameras as our chosen weapons. Before the show we look for people on the streets outside, to talk to about love and life and ultimately to perform a beautiful Hollywood-style kiss. Then we run back to the theatre and show the four films to the audience all at the same time, and mix background music on the spot.

'When we did it in West Bromwich last year, there was an old couple waiting at the bus stop moaning at each other and we made them kiss for the camera, which cheered them up.'

24 & 25 May, The Junction, Cambridge (01223 511511; www.junction.co.uk)

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