Work
The Telelibrary Travel Agency
Maker Yannick Trapman-O'Brien · Work date 2020-06 · Medium telephone · Role work
Description
Built for SoLow Fest, Philadelphia, and described by its reviewer as the latest incarnation of the Telelibrary: a scheduled call in which the caller is enrolled in a travel agency and spends credits on trips to global destinations, in a choose-your-own-adventure structure mixing interactive theater, trivia and experiment. Entirely vocal — no text or written component. About forty-five minutes.
A separately titled and separately programmed edition of the Telelibrary rather than a wholly distinct work. Cataloged separately because it has its own title, festival and date; merge it if you would rather treat the Telelibrary as one continuous piece.
Anatomy
Thirteen criteria after Lauren R. Beck. Each carries a source grade: M maker-confirmed, P published, F first-hand, I inferred by the compiler, ? not yet established. Definitions are on the anatomy page.
- Participants listen through headphonesnoP
A scheduled inbound call.
- Participants move through space as part of the worknoI
The caller stays where they are.
- Audio technology is necessaryyesP
Entirely vocal; the reviewer notes there is no written component.
- Site-, situation- or language-specificnoI
Placeless — the destinations are imagined.
- Engages with the history of a sitenoI
No documented past of a real place.
- Created for an urban environmentnoI
No urban dependence.
- Created as an artwork other than theateryesI
A system and a service as much as a play, in the Telelibrary's usual register.
- Intended to be understood as theateryesI
Programmed as interactive theater at a fringe festival.
- Accidental real-world sights and sounds are importantunknown?
Not addressed.
Did you experience this? Tell us - Spectator must participateyesP
The reviewer notes there is no non-speaking route through it.
- Has live performers other than the participantsyesP
A live operator.
- Involves game playyesP
Credits are spent, destinations chosen, trivia answered — rules, an economy and a resolution.
- Uses props other than the listening devicenoI
Nothing is handled but the phone.
1 of thirteen are still unknown for this work. If you experienced it, you can settle them in a minute.