The first time you and I meet we will know where to go and what to say. We will know what tree to lie under. We will know who arrives early, who calls it quits, and who runs in just before the other gives up hope. We will know if we are the giver or the receiver, if we are supposed to have a staring contest, or help each other up the stairs. We will know precisely when to hold hands, or say I love you. We will know who says “I’m sorry,” who says “I understand,” who stays and who watches the other leave.

The first time you and I meet will be the only time we ever do. Our lives overlap for a time. And then we move on.

No exposition, no inciting incident, no denouement. Just moments, which you’ve chosen for yourself through this site.

We spend these moments together, you and I, having never rehearsed, discussed, or met. We follow the rules that have been laid out, knowing there will be no “hellos” and no “goodbyes.”

These moments are recorded as documentation and made available through this site. Some of these recorded moments might make it into a larger collage of other moments and be screened in the city that you participate.

Please read the scenes. Pick one in which you would like to be A Stranger. Pick which character you would like to play. You can usually choose to play either part, even if implied gender roles are reversed or otherwise altered.

When you have chosen a scene and a character to play, contact us. Tell us which scene you would like to participate in, and which part you would like to play. We will follow up to set a date, a time, and a location that works for both of us. 

You arrive at the decided location and time. One of us will already be there. We interact as dictated by the words. There is no direction. There are no second takes. There are no “thankyous” or “goodbyes.” There is nothing that is not within the context of the scene. We experience each other. The scene ends. We leave. We never speak again.

Acting Stranger is the evolving document of an ongoing project exploring intimacy, relationship, and experience between strangers.

The project is the process.

Please read the rules