Every time we come to a new space, we transform it into a theater.

We create the stage around ourselves. Our backs to a wall, we separate the reality of our scenes from the rest of the world with an arc of bodies. The audience's attention becomes an insulating wall against the noise and distraction of the building, be it a school, office, or prison. The scenery and props are sparse; a chair and a telephone can become a courthouse or the bedroom of a crying child. The focus should be on the actors, on people in the audience, and, to a lesser extent, on the blue sign taped to the wall that reads, "What If..."

The life-blood of What If..., a program offered by InterAction Theater, Inc., which uses interactive methods to teach everything from sexual responsibility to conflict resolution, is audience participation. Getting the audience involved with the actors relies on quickly creating an atmosphere of mutual trust. If the audience feels as if it's being patronized, there won't be much teaching going on, and even less fun. One of the keys is to remove some of the barriers that usually separate the spectators from the show.

We try to get as close as possible to our audience. We avoid stages in auditoriums – either we perform on the same level with the seats or we have everybody sit on the stage. The fact that the people in the front row could reach out and touch us instantly closes some of the apathy gap. We don't use microphones unless absolutely necessary. If people can't hear us, we have too many people. Through focus and improvisation, we talk to people, not at them. In coaxing the audience to emotionally respond to the situation, we try to blur the line between "us" and "them" until we're just a bunch of people talking about something – hopefully something that can save lives. The further away people physically get, the more difficult it is to involve them in the scene. Those that sit in the front of the house are far more likely to speak freely than people in balconies. In matters of space, less is certainly more. Doing a show 3 feet away from 30 people will have a greater impact than performing 30 feet away from a mob of 300. People are accustomed to watching a performance, to quietly looking as the story unfolds. It takes convincing to get them involved to the extent that they try to change the characters' minds, at which point the scene is a success as the audience suspends disbelief and, with a minimum of after-school-special cheese, laughs, talks and shares.

What If... revolves around human involvement, not scenery or space. If people are willing to break the rules of conventional theater and interact, the setting is of no relevance. It's rare to find a theatrical production that would work better in a broom closet than in Carnegie Hall, but interactive theater relies more on emotional depth than physical dimensions.

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