The gaming is fun, yes, but Best Before delivers that fun with a steady, tangible reality  ”¦ and in some odd circular sense, the experience of the show is reality. And reality reared its ugly head as the performance last night suffered a technical glitch that crashed the program near the game’s culmination point. Here the  “life experts ” had to scramble to deliver the show’s closing without the planned-for technical oomph. But it wasn’t awkward; it was an experience.

All I knew about Rimini Protokoll's Best Before show at On the Boards (through May 9, tickets $24) was that it somehow involved video-game controllers and would last two hours. This was anxiety-producing for me, a Zaxxon low-scorer, but I needn't have worried; I spent most of the evening with a goofy grin on my face, and giggles and yelps of laughter were widespread.

by Jeanmarie Higgins

"Starting with a solo guitar with a coffee house vibe, this play/video game soars after the first five minutes and continually amazes with the twists and turns of our choices. It is like nothing that I have ever seen before!"

"Best Before is the latest production by the Berlin-based theater troupe, key figures in Europe's Reality Trend movement ("Theater der Zeit"). Far from being intimidating in feel, the "show" is warm, informal, even neighborly. That may be because it was developed in Vancouver, B.C., with the PuSH International Performing Arts Festival, as part of the city's recent Cultural Olympiad."

by Craig Snyder

When I attended Rimini Protokoll’s Best Before in Canada, I experienced both a new theater venue and a new type of performance. Never having attended a highly produced theater piece where the performers were not professional actors but "life experts" and this being my first show at The Cultch, I sat in the seats holding my video game controller with anticipation.