I'd never seen a show before like "Power House: the Disco Energy Dance-Along Show", at the Source Theatre. It's basically a play, put on by Charlie Fink and Bouncing Ball Productions. But the staging puts the audience in the middle of the action--in fact, they're encouraged to participate.
A surprising number of people ventured out in the driving rain Wednesday evening for this show. When I arrived, the lobby was packed with patrons, including most of the audience from the previous show, waiting for some break before they dashed home. When we came into the house, it was lit like a disco, and cast members were already dancing. They got many audience members to join in. I was hoping the whole audience would get into the disco spirit, but unfortunately most people reverted to just watching.
The premise, introduced in a video at the beginning, is that new technology is developed to harness the energy released by a disco full of dancers. The video explains how mechanical, thermal & sweat energy are captured for conversion into clean, "green" electricity. The dancers in this powerhouse bounce and spin atop turbines, under the watchful eye of a menacing scientist/engineer type. They are fed drugs by a very sexy nurse to keep them dancing. But it's not clear how they were recruited for this work.
Trouble starts when the overseer decides to test the limits of the plant's power output. He wants to set a record for kilowatt-hours, but one of the dancers decides he has had enough. He tries to take a rest, and even encourages the others to stop. The overseer has other ideas, and brings the recalcitrant dancer into his office for "reprogramming"
This does not end well. The dancer will not cooperate, even when a hot woman comes in, seduces him, and encourages him to continue his work. So he has to be eliminated--and is immediately replaced by a dancer picked out of the audience.
There is one more show of "Power House", Friday the 25th at 10:00 p.m.
To see more pictures of this production, click here.
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