Two Plots Diverged

A A A Comments By Hiya Swanhuyser Wednesday, Dec 16 2009

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The Choose Your Own Adventure series of young-adult books was a precursor to videogames. The limited, predictable, simplistic, pointless choices offered by the books’ “If you decide to X, turn to page Y” formula were nowhere near as graphic as videogames, obviously, but they were just as addicting, for the same incomprehensible reasons. Kids read them more than once to “find out” what would happen with different choices, traded them around like candy, and never remembered very much about the plots. PianoFight theater company adapted this formula for the stage a while back, with a play, FORKING!, during which the audience collectively decided among forks in the plot. Unsurprisingly, it was smashingly popular, here in the Bay Area as well as in cold, unforgiving Los Angeles. At A Merry FORKING! Christmas, the troupe is doing it holiday-style — the funny preview clip on PF’s Web site shows a woman at a bar, choosing among drunk, annoying dudes in Santa suits. Which one, audience? Curly beard or bushy beard? Maybe there’s a “she suddenly feels intelligent, and ditches them both” option?
Dec. 17-Jan. 2, 4 & 8 p.m., 2009

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