Mind-reader, illusionist or trickster – no matter what you think of Philipp Oberlohr, he’ll certainly leave you mystified with his ability to master fate and delve into the depths of your soul.
Das Spiel: Are You Part of the Game? At The Vaults, Waterloo, doesn’t use the conventional theatrical props and it certainly appears as if there’s no script or set-direction.
It seems to flow naturally around the all-important members of the audience.
But then we question whether we’re all just pawns in Oberlohr’s game as the seemingly random participants are actually written into the stage-show as he reads a letter written earlier to name and thank those who played along.
We forget this is actually a theatrical experience as unassuming Austrian Oberlohr carries us, and we in turn carry him on this journey which blurs reality, the past and the present.
The players are different each night so the game you’ll be involved in will vary from mine, but I wanted to share some of the awe-inspiring and mind-boggling events that took place.
To kick off the show, Oberlohr drew a circle attached to the two sides of a triangle, followed by the words red, black, black.
He then took out a pack of cards with the numbers 1-100 and an audience member chose one. At that point we felt it would be a very long night as Oberlohr went round the room asking the audience to guess the number.
After the third attempt, Natalie shocked us all by guessing it was 32. And incidentally, she was wearing a necklace with a round pendant, a red dress and black shoes and tights – perfectly describing the pattern Oberlohr had penned earlier.
Then three blank pieces of paper were handed out and the holders had to draw one of the first things that came into their minds. As this was happening, Oberlohr’s eyes were taped and blindfolded before his hand hovered over the drawings. Incredibly he correctly guessed that two hearts with cupid’s arrow had been drawn, in addition to the rear view of an elephant. Magda was the next player.
He guessed the birth date of one player, the favourite city of another and even guessed the name of the person one audience member had shared her very first kiss with.
Oberlohr said he was inspired to create Das Spiel after reading The Magus by John Fowles. “I related to the protagonist as the reality that was created around him kept changing and transforming. This theme inspired me to create an experience like this for an audience in a live setting”.
In the same way, we’re changed and transformed from that point onwards – this is certainly unlike anything I’ve seen or been involved in before.
And just a note about The Vaults venue – it’s a myriad of darkened rooms and tunnels under the arches supporting the train network above – a funky hideout for the urban classes.