Voidspace Live Preview Squee

If you’ve been reading this blog for its history, you can see that I love interactive/immersive theater. But now, I’m in a position where I’m creating theater myself, and I’m thinking about it in a different way, as someone who might want to make theater that isn’t about peopel sitting in a chair, absorbing what other people see. In that vein, I was thrilled to bits to hear about Voidspace, a zine covering the interactive theater scene (latest issue here: https://voidspacezine.substack.com/p/voidspace-dispatches-june-2024-festival ) who are putting on a FESTIVAL this Sunday, in two days, at Theater Deli. But it was sold out! And then a few tickets came on sale midnight in the wee hours of Friday (today – reader there is still one left as I post this: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/voidspace-live-2024-tickets-814416510707 ). So I bought tickets immediately, even though it’s a bit of a rich price, only this theater done well is worth it.

So I’m in! But what do I do? Here are the choices, and I’m hoping reading this will encourage YOU to buy that last ticket.

voidspace live 2024: programme

Session One

– Jury Duty (90 mins, capacity 15 – FULL)

A fire. A dead man. A guilty plea for arson, but not for murder. The truth must come out. Under the Justice Act (2021), you have been summoned as a remote juror for a new kind of online trial. Review the evidence, speak to the accused, and come to a conclusion. Is he guilty or not guilty? And is there more to this case than meets the eye?

– Strings, Unwired Dance (25 minutes, capacity 50)

Act as a collective to make the dance happen. Using a combination of haptic and mobile technology, audience and performer collaborate in this unique interactive dance experience.

– The Unbuilt Room, by Seth Kriebel (A House Repeated) (approx. 30 minutes, capacity 50)

Come in.  Sit down.  Explore.  The Unbuilt Room is part-performance, part-game… an interactive journey inspired by early text-adventure computer games.

Each show is unique as you explore an imagined world — without leaving your seat.

– A Quest for Rest by Ariella Como Stoian and Mushmoss Collective (90 minutes, capacity 30): An interactive adventure about how we choose to rest, energy management and taking care of a querulous umbrella plant. Named Sven. 

– Cut and Stick Neighbourhoods – a game creation workshop from Nick Murray (Now Play This) (90 minutes, capacity 30)

Cut-up poetry meets collective map-making in this game collage workshop from Nick Murray (Now Play This, Playing Poetry). Through a series of playful prompts, you’ll create a communal visual poem and a poetic neighbourhood, that can be replayed and reformed throughout the day. The whole piece will be translated into a digital game world that you can play during the festival and take home with you. 

– The Judgment of Solomon:A science-fiction inspired micro-larp (live action roleplaying game) by Martin L Jones, facilitated by Jenny Dunn. The fate of a child hangs in the balance. Become a character in a courtroom drama of angst, guilt and corporate greed with dark Cyberpunk themes. Ready-to-play character sheets will be provided in advance with relationship links and plot for instant drama for participants seeking higher levels of interactivity in a safe and supportive environment. No acting experience is needed and new larpers welcome (30 minutes, capacity 5 – FULL UP)

Session Two

– Come Worship Our Uncanny King, by Leo Doulton (Come Bargain with Uncanny Things) (90 minutes, capacity 30) Enter a supernatural ritual in praise and celebration of a regent of the fey.

– This Time (Travel) Will be Different by Chloe Mashiter (Roll / Flip / Draw; Parabolic; Upstart Theatre) (60 minutes, capacity 30 – FULL)

This is an important announcement for all time-travellers.*

We can’t go on like this. The paradoxes, the split timelines, the transformation of reality itself: if we don’t change, we’ll break the universe.

We need a new way to think about how we travel through time. And why.

– ‘ The Unbearable Disappointment of Branching Narrative’ – why live interactivity needs a different approach. A masterclass and Q&A from Owen Kingston, Artistic Director of Parabolic Theatre (90 minutes, capacity 20)

– Random Acts: A Generative Poetry Workshop from Mark Ward, voidspace press’ first published poet – Random Acts is a workshop designed to generate new drafts of poems through interactivity, randomness, group consensus, chance, erasures, cut-ups and even dice rolls. In 90 minutes, you should come away with four first drafts to continue working on in future, and hopefully new ways of working to shake up your creative practice (90 minutes, capacity 15)

Session Three

– Richard III (A One Person Show) (60 minutes, capacity 50)

Interactive Shakespeare from Emily Carding (The Locksmith’s Dream)

– We Sing, I Sang (60 minutes, capacity 30)

Post-apocalyptic interactive opera from CN Lester (Come Bargain With Uncanny Things) 

– Muze Collective interactive music experience (60 minutes, capacity 30)

Tags: improv, interactive-theatre, theater, theatre-deli, voidspace, writing