UCSB Arts & Lectures will present Fight Night by Ontroerend Goed, 8 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 15 at UCSB’s Campbell Hall.
In the lead-up to the 2024 presidential election, innovative Belgian theater company Ontroerend Goed offers a thought-provoking night of interactive theater.
“Fight Night” puts five actors into the position of “candidates” struggling to get the audience’s sympathy and, ultimately, their vote. Only one of them will survive the relentless series of eliminations, and they apply all possible tactics and strategies to assure their victory.
Set on a platform reminiscent of a boxing ring, the competition is fought not with fists but with words and looks.
The audience, armed with a voting keypad, decides who stays and who goes, but gets entangled in an increasingly complex and puzzling system of rules and manipulations.
As in publicized political campaigns, polls, predictions and debates challenge the voters’ loyalty and common sense, toppling their notion of free choice in the end.
“Fight Night” was a critically-acclaimed hit of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
General ticket prices are $37.50-$52.50; UCSB students, $15 with current student ID. For tickets and information, visit www.ArtsAndLectures.UCSB.edu or call 805-893-3535.