Handle with Care arrives at Esplanade with no actors, no technical crew and one box placed at the centre of the stage. An audience member opens it, and the people in the room use its instructions, objects and prompts to create the performance together.
Belgian company Ontroerend Goed designed the one-hour work for people who may not usually enjoy participatory theatre. The structure allows a person to hand a task to someone else and observe instead.
What Participation Means Here
There is no hidden cast waiting to rescue the room. The audience makes choices about leadership, timing and how to care for the shared experience, producing a version that cannot be repeated exactly.
The work reflects on time, transience and togetherness. It may also refer to death and dying, which is part of the official advisory and worth considering before booking.
- Entirely performed by the audience.
- No wrong choice is prescribed by the production.
- Participants may pass a task to another person.
Dates, Venues And Tickets
Performances take place at Esplanade Theatre Studio on 7 and 8 August, then at Esplanade Recital Studio on 3, 5 and 6 September. Standard tickets are S$35 and limited concession tickets are S$30 before applicable fees.
The show is for ages 14 and above and is performed in English. Latecomers are not admitted once the work begins, and there is no re-admission.
- Duration: one hour without intermission.
- Admission age: 14 and above.
- Check the venue carefully because the August and September locations differ.
Deciding If It Suits You
Book if the uncertainty is part of the appeal, not if you need a conventional plot delivered by performers. A quieter participant can still be present without taking every prompt, but the room depends on enough people accepting responsibility.
More experimental work is listed in Little Big Red Dot’s Entertainment guides.
- Arrive early; the start depends on the complete audience.
- Read the advisory about death and dying.
- Attend with an open schedule so the shared experience is not rushed.
