BUSHWICK — Forget the fourth wall — this play lets the audience members sit on set.
"Kitchen Sink Experiment(s)," a new play produced by Crashbox Theater, uses director Andrew Scoville's actual Bushwick loft apartment as the stage for his characters.
The piece, written by Colby Day, follows Brian and Simone, a couple that invites a scientist to observe their every move when they need a little extra cash.
Day and Scoville looked at several theaters in the hopes of finding the right setting for the play, but they ultimately realized they wanted to perform in an actual apartment.
Scoville's loft at 28 Scott Ave., which he shares with his wife, has been transformed into Brian and Simone's, with most of the director's belongings stored away. Actors have been bringing in items like art, photographs and books that they think their characters would have in their home.
Producing the play in an actual apartment — and sitting the audience so close to the actors — forces people to feel a little bit more voyeuristic, which is part of the purpose of the play, Scoville explained.
"[You] experience what it's like to go into somebody's home and observe them, and see what that does to the human experience," he said.
The character Brian is an artist, while his girlfriend Simone went to art school but now works a day job at a real estate company, Day said.
The young couple seemed like they would live in Bushwick, he added.
Part of the concept involves watching the couple do what they would normally do at home, such as make pancakes — something they actually do during the play.
Along those lines, the couple will have conversations in a lofted bedroom at times, sometimes forcing them out of view from the audience.
And while most of the apartment's original structure remains intact, the designers put up a new drywall so that Brian and Simone would have a bathroom to go into that would be closer to the audience.
The goal was to make the apartment feel as real as possible to push the audience into feeling like they're the scientist observing Brian and Simone.
"Plays are just about observing what the human condition is like," Day said. "What does it mean if you know that someone's watching you? You're not going to make your toast the same way. You're going to feel uncomfortable."
For Scoville, it's meant packing belongings up in boxes and putting things into storage, as well as doing a lot of work in local coffee shops.
But he and his wife, who is a playwright, were both excited to use their home for a project like "Kitchen Sink Experiment(s)," he said.
"I want people to be here where [the characters] are," Scoville said. "I don't want to spend resources building a room just to throw it all away. I have it. I want to use the space this way."
"Kitchen Sink Experiment(s)" runs daily from October 21 to November 6 at 8 p.m., except for Mondays and Halloween. There are also shows on October 17 and 24 at 2 p.m. Each show is limited to 20 audience members. Tickets cost $28.
