Australia's Back to Back Theatre alters landscape of performance art

If you see clusters of people wandering around SAM's Olympic Sculpture Park next week, wearing headsets and scanning the area for a pair of guys named Steve and Gary, they could just be art fans with iPods, searching for their companions. Or they could be watching an unusual theater piece.

The piece is titled "small metal objects," and the troupe behind it is Australia's Back to Back Theatre, a group of actors with developmental disabilities who specialize in thought-provoking, site-specific works.

On the Boards is presenting their local debut here in "small metal objects," intriguingly described as a performance "about money, power and the isolation of those who have little of either."

Through headphones, patrons hear an "audioscape" of music and dialogue that underscores a live action story about a pair of social outcasts. "Small metal objects" premiered in a Melbourne, Australia, train station, and on its international tour, the piece has been staged in other large public spaces, including malls and airports.

On May 31, as part of the Seattle Art Museum's Taking the Pulse Series, Back to Back artistic director Bruce Gladwin will discuss the company's work on a "Performance in Public Spaces" panel with University of Washington geography and law professor Steven Herbert and Marisa Sanchez, assistant curator at Seattle Art Museum.

Misha Berson: mberson@seattletimes.com