16 February 2021
Newsdesk
A trio of digital productions include an interactive show told over social media, an internet-wide treasure hunt and a real-life retelling of lockdown hit game Among Us.
Chronic Insanity is to host an ambitious digital programme with three new productions to be launched over the next three months. The digital-focused shows announced for February to May will showcase Chronic Insanity’s characteristically playful style as part of their 12 shows in 12 months project for 2021. Drawing on the unnerving and the unusual, the Nottingham-based company’s digital work plays with a host of different online platforms to tell stories about the digital worlds that are becoming increasingly important in our lives.
Kicking off the new digital season is Douglas Deans’ 24, 23, 22 (available February 26th), a gig-theatre production about what happens when you’re in the wrong place at the wrong time. Told through a variety of social media platforms, 24, 23, 22 is played out by two performers, with the audience put in charge of choosing who will perform.
From March 29th, Flavour Text is an internet-wide narrative treasure hunt. Encouraging participants to actively piece together the story, Flavour Text takes audiences down a rabbit hole of lies as the story unfolds in reviews and comment sections across a variety of websites.
With a rise in online games over lockdown, including the hugely popular Among Us which divides friendship groups into crewmates and imposters, Joe Strickland’s There’s Something Among Us asks what happens when our video game actions have real-life repercussions. There’s Something Among Us tells a story through multiple video feeds to uncover the opening of old wounds and the revelation of unspoken truths against a backdrop of a seemingly harmless online game.
Artistic Director Joe Strickland said, “In the same way that local theatres should tell local stories, I think digital theatre should focus on telling digital stories. This opens up so many untold stories to tell, audiences to reach, and opportunities for both creatives and audiences to make or experience theatre in innovative ways. This season for us is not only about telling those digital stories, but doing so on online platforms that make sense for those stories, all while exploring how many ways we can give audiences different options to experience the productions as possible. What happens if an audience can choose the cast of the show for themselves, experience stories over the timescale they want, or decide how much of the world of a story they want to dive into? We’re very excited to find out!”.
Led by Nat Henderson and Joe Strickland, Chronic Insanity use sustainable theatre making practices, record all performances in multiple digital formats, create new opportunities for other creatives to get their work on, and document the whole process for others to learn from. Joe Strickland combines experience as a theatre maker, magician, psychologist, and creative technologist to make original audiences experiences for traditional, found, and digital spaces.
Listings information
24, 23, 22 (Friday 26th Feb until Fri 31st Dec 2021) £10 (Concs £8)
A gig-theatre production about the impact people have on each other and what happens when you’re in the wrong place at the wrong time, told through a variety of social media platforms.One character moves forwards, through a seemingly normal day that takes a sudden twist, while another moves backwards, away from a life changing incident. Each character is played by two performers, with the audience being able to choose which performers perform the story for them, similar to the character selection function in some video games. This show contains strong language and references to mortality and sexual misconduct. This show will be available with captions and audio description.
Flavour Text (Monday 29th March until Fri 31st Dec 2021) £10 (Concs £8)
Flavour Text is the term used to describe the environmental storytelling that gives an audience extra insight into a fictional world. The written equivalent of a found footage film, Flavour Text is an internet wide, narrative treasure hunt. You find yourself looking for the number for your favourite takeaway online, when you realise that the restaurant has closed down suddenly. While looking for the reason, the audience falls into a rabbit hole of lies and deceit that they discover through review and comment sections across a variety of websites. Duration and content warnings TBC. The show will be available with audio description.
There’s Something Among Us (Monday 26th April until Fri 31st Dec 2021) £10 (Concs £8)
Games have the ability to bring us together, but also to push us apart. For every fun evening over a game of Jenga there’s a family torn apart by Monopoly. With a rise in online games over lockdown, like the popular game Among Us, a friendship group being broken apart by a game can now happen remotely. In Among Us, a player(s) is assigned the role of The Imposter and has to try and secretly murder the other players without being caught. But what if, when each avatar in the game is killed off, either by the imposter or the other players, something more immediate and serious happens to that player in real life, something the other players aren’t made aware of until it’s too late. There's Something Among Us tells a story through multiple video feeds of the opening of old wounds, the revelation of spoken truths, and little colourful dudes killing each other on a space station. Duration and content warnings TBC. The show will be presented with captions and audio description.
