SITTING IN the dark while the spotlight shines on the actors on stage, the role of the audience has always been to “observe” rather than “participate.” The play Shear Madness challenges this notion by incorporating the audience within the plot. The story takes place in a hairstyling salon where, with the help of two detectives, the audience must solve a murder mystery involving four suspects: two owners of the salon, a rich lady, and an antiques seller.

Behind the curtain

   The production of Shear Madness in Seoul is an adaptation of the original play written by Paul Pörtner, first performed in Boston at the Charles Playhouse Stage II in 1980. Categorized as an interactive whodunit[1] play, Shear Madness is a mystery-comedy where the main objective is to find out who murdered the pianist that lives upstairs from the hair salon. Unlike traditional plays, interactive theater incorporates them into the narrative. Actors, for example, ask direct questions to the audience and “interact” with them through improvisation.

   The play features six characters. Jo Ho-jin, one of the stylists in the hair salon, is a man with a flamboyant personality that captivates the audience with his wit. He is particularly irritated about the noise that is coming from the flat above the shop, where an elderly pianist Beyer Ha lives. Jang Mi-sook is his co-worker who is characterized as an attractive and likable young woman. Oh Joon-su, an antiques seller, is a customer in the hair salon. Another customer of the salon is Han Bo-hyun, a typical sa-mo-nim[2] figure who is preoccupied with looking elegant, even at a crime scene. The two detectives-in-disguise, Kang Woo-jin and Jo Young-min, reveal themselves upon the death of the pianist in order to begin the interrogation process. It is difficult to describe the personalities of the characters in-depth as the ending of the performance is subject to change depending on the respective audience’s participation, facilitated by a series of questions asked from the audience to the characters. As a result, each character, while staying within the general boundaries of their respective roles, has a rather flexible “image” that adapts to the fluctuating plot.

Bordering on reality and imagination

   The most remarkable aspect of Shear Madness is its ability to incorporate the real world onto the stage in a way that complements the fictional narrative. The first thing one notices upon walking into the theater is how unusually close the stage is to the audience’s seats, which gives off the impression that the seats, too, are a part of the stage. The stage itself is set up to look like a typical hair salon with fully functioning barber’s chairs and shampoo stations. At the same time, the extraordinarily vibrant interior of the salon gives the place a theatrical appearance, making it evident that the salon is indeed a part of the fictional set. The ambiguous transition between the real world and the play is also emphasized by the fact that the show starts without an announcement. There is no dimming of the lights nor the raising of curtains; instead, an actor simply walks onto the stage and turns on the music while taking care of simple chores.

   In the same vein, the clock on the upper right corner of the stage adds authenticity to the play by representing the passage of real-time. This goes against the goal of most works of fiction, where the aim is to transport the audience out of reality and into a fabricated world. However, as Shear Madness progresses in a single, linear timeline, the constant reminder of the passage of real-time only adds to the realistic quality of the show rather than interfering with its immersiveness. Additionally, the actors stay in character on stage even during the intermission, creating the illusion that they are only taking a break from their investigation, not the play.

   The fact that the play takes place in a space existing between fiction and reality allows the audience and the actors to converge in the middle, where they enjoy the freedom of neither belonging to this world nor that. The homogeneity of being in this mediary space allows the audience to warm up fairly quickly to the characters and even to feel a sense of friendship. This works in favor of the interactive nature of the play as it emboldens the audience to participate actively with minimal resistance.

The identity of the audience

   Moving on from the simple novelty of the unconventional role the play gives to the audience, it is important to ask what significance an active audience has to the narrative of Shear Madness. For the first part of the play, the audience is able to observe the characters as they go about their seemingly unremarkable daily routines. Because of the bubbly personality of the hairstylist Jo Ho-jin, the exchange of dialogue progresses in a very dynamic and entertaining manner, distracting the audience from the slightly suspicious behaviors of the other characters. During the second half of the play, when the characters recreate the scene leading up to the murder, the audience members are encouraged to ask questions about the suspicious behaviors or correct the testimonies of the characters if they are lying.

   The ending of the play suggests that the audience may have been given more power than was expected. As the interrogation portion of the play comes to a close, the detective asks the audience to vote for who they think committed the murder. After a series of revelations, the criminal is caught and dragged off stage, followed by the detective addressing the audience with this ominous message: that the criminal has been caught according to the way the audience has voted. After this, each of the non-convicted characters comes up one by one, illuminated by a terrifying red light on a completely dark stage, delivering chilling lines about killing the pianist upstairs. The detective ends the play by saying that in future performances, any one of these people may be the criminal and that there is no knowing who. This takes away the satisfaction of having closure to the crime and brings the mystery back to the start. The other characters, whose personalities and alibis have been solidified by the decisions made by the audience, are completely unrecognizable when they are portrayed as the criminal. For instance, the hairstylist Jo Ho-jin, although a bit hot-tempered, has a bright and almost child-like enthusiasm about him when he is “not considered” a criminal. To see his face drop with a cold sneer under the haunting red light makes the Jo Ho-jin we knew and came to love into an unrecognizable stranger.

   Furthermore, the ending scene also takes away the satisfying comfort of having the case closed. Showing the audience that any one of the culprits has the potential to be convicted removes all confidence from their decision. This is the part when the audience realizes the true power that interactive theater bestows upon them. To participate in changing a narrative is one thing, but to possibly change the fate and personality of a character is a more serious responsibility. Whereas the audience thought that they had been following along the actors’ lead, they are left with a lingering thought that they might have pushed one of the characters to the gallows without realizing it. As chilling as it is, the idea that public opinion can change the image of a person is a familiar concept. Perhaps the ending of the play is a comment on our own society, where a culprit can be “chosen” instead of “found.”

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   The reason why Shear Madness has enjoyed such a prolonged period of success might be because the play has not only integrated the audience into the narrative but also used it to an artistic advantage. While guiding the audience’s participation with various devices, the play was also able to show the audience the control they had over the outcome of the performance. To realize that one has wielded such an influence without realizing it for the better part of the play is a revelation that brings up a complex mix of feelings—a powerful element that attracts the audience to revisit the story once more.

[1] Whodunit: Deriving from the phrase “who has done it,” a whodunit is a literary genre of detective puzzle fiction with the main objective of finding out who has committed the crime.

[2] Sa-mo-nim: An honorific term referring to the wife of a man in a socially high position