Provo’s Covey Center for the Arts invites all to come “as you wish” to a special free screening of “The Princess Bride.” The showing is Friday, Nov. 6 at 7:30 p.m.
Similar to a showing of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” the audience of “Princess Bride Participation” is encouraged to dress up like their favorite characters from the movie and shout out lines as the movie plays.
The showing will feel more casual, as audience members are allowed to openly recite movie lines or jokes and comments about the scenes. This “anything goes” atmosphere is unpredictable; some may be louder than others.
ImprovBroadway members are attending to coordinate audience participation.
Nick Bean, the Covey’s marketing guru, said he came up with the idea of audience participation while thinking of how to combine film, theater and community outreach.
Bean said the “Rocky Horror” audience participation style came to his mind as an example of everything coming together.
“‘Rocky Horror’ is something of a cultural icon, a touch-point that embodies individual empowerment and spontaneous group performance with a structured narrative,” Bean said. “It immediately dawned on me that ‘The Princess Bride’ could be that and much more.”
Christa Huggard, a BYU junior from American Fork, said she thinks it’s a great idea to have audience participation with “The Princess Bride.”
“It’s a movie I’ve been able to quote growing up,” Huggard said. “It’s a quotable movie that lots of people can relate to.”
With countless quotes and memes floating around the BYU sphere with references to the movie, there’s no doubt that “The Princess Bride” is a well-loved movie in the community.
The idea of an audience-participation event is appealing to 22-year-old BYU student Jaclyn Johns. “I think this is a really good movie to have audience participation in,” Johns said. “It’s one of the most universally quoted movies. I love it.”
The BYU appeal is exactly why the Covey Center has decided on “The Princess Bride.”
Bean said the movie still holds a spot as one of the most beloved films with Utah and LDS audiences nearly 30 years since its release. “It knits together generations and cuts across social and cultural barriers,” Bean said.
The Covey Center hopes to have a full house with audience members representing all of the movie characters from Princess Buttercup and Wesley to Miracle Max and even a few rodents of unusual size.
General admission is free, with all ages welcome.
