STATE COLLEGE — In a world desperately in need of saviors, one woman has come to town ready to start saving the world one region at a time. Meet “Top Secret Agent Karen” — she sometimes moves about with mere mortals, all the while disguised as mild-mannered actor, educator, writer and director Sandi Carroll.
Social media will meet live theater when Carroll presents her interactive humorous performance piece, “Mission Implausible.” The show will run Thursday, Feb. 11, through Saturday, Feb. 13, at the Downtown Penn State Theatre Centre on Allen Street.
Carroll’s background includes work in film and on Broadway. Additionally, she is the co-founder of the comedy group Logic Limited Ltd.
The program features, of course, Top Secret Agent Karen, who has chosen to accept the mission of saving the world. Caroll has a background in clowning, so her special form of wit brings to this experience what she calls “the discipline of play.”
As part of Penn State’s Arts and Design Research Incubator, Carroll’s work explores how having fun impacts human health. “Mission Implausible,” according to Carroll, ‘encourages the audience to have fun on cue.”
To this end, she will greet the audience and draw their attention to certain apps on smartphones, ‘or we hand out pencil and paper to those without smartphones.”
A large Facebook page will appear on a screen at the back of the stage.
Top Secret Agent Karen will then commence the Theatre of Operations by explaining, ‘I’m waiting for instructions from headquarters.’
“Headquarters” consists of Chris Arruda, a TV producer from New York, who joins via Skype.
But even a top-secret, high-powered special agent can’t save the world by herself. So an audience member will join Agent Karen on stage.
‘I want to share the journey of play with at least one audience member,’ said Carroll.
The hero’s journey then continues, as she takes different orders via Skype from the guy at headquarters. And, action will proceed according to what gets posted on Facebook throughout the show.
‘It’s a lot of fun,’ Carroll said, ‘and it’s different every time I do the show.”
The inclusion of Facebook extends the experience beyond the theater, since anyone viewing Carroll’s page can participate, comment or add photos, all of which the audience can see and respond to.
Unpredictable and spontaneous would describe this program well. The free admission should attract good-sized crowds of people up for an evening of surprises.
‘I’ve never done a show that consistently provides so much joy,’ Carroll said.
And, who knows? Joy just might save the world.
