guardian.co.uk: Scrambling up a narrow stairway, I momentarily pause for breath only to hear a blood-curdling groan a few paces behind me. I daren't look back. A hand, or at least what I think is a hand, grabs at the bottom of my trouserleg. Usually, this would be the point where I press pause, make myself a cup of tea, and wait for my heart rate to slow back down before re-entering the world of video games. But this isn't a game. This is a piece called "… and darkness descended", the latest project from immersive theatre pioneers Punchdrunk. Collaborating with PlayStation for the upcoming release of Resistance 3, Sony's flagship sci-fi horror series, the company has created a terrifying and brilliantly authentic-feeling world beneath the railway arches at Waterloo station. Enter at your peril.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Punchdrunk? Try petrified – gaming gets the immersive theatre treatment
guardian.co.uk: Scrambling up a narrow stairway, I momentarily pause for breath only to hear a blood-curdling groan a few paces behind me. I daren't look back. A hand, or at least what I think is a hand, grabs at the bottom of my trouserleg. Usually, this would be the point where I press pause, make myself a cup of tea, and wait for my heart rate to slow back down before re-entering the world of video games. But this isn't a game. This is a piece called "… and darkness descended", the latest project from immersive theatre pioneers Punchdrunk. Collaborating with PlayStation for the upcoming release of Resistance 3, Sony's flagship sci-fi horror series, the company has created a terrifying and brilliantly authentic-feeling world beneath the railway arches at Waterloo station. Enter at your peril.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
7 comments:
This idea is so exciting; a walk-though gone wild. I would be intrigued to go on this, although I am sure I would be petrified from the moment it started. So many people vive for immersive entertainment experiences that this really fills a gap in experiences between amusement park ride and video game. So glad to see this collaboration a success and I hope to see more (perhaps something less violent, although I understand how the violent mystery video games lend themselves to this type of attraction).
The fact that this walk-through got such a response from the author itself speaks volume to me. I think it's cool to get the audience more involved and really become part of the piece that they are "seeing" and getting more of a reaction and having more of an impact on them in that way. That idea of entering a world and actively participating in it is part of what makes video games and attractions like these very interesting. I found it particularly interesting that the author specifically noted the smell and how that affected him as he moved through the exhibit. I'd be curious to see how Punchdrunk executed this particular aspect of the production, since I think at some point in the future, smells are something that we are going to start incorporating into theatrical work to bring the audience even closer to what's going on onstage, and get them even more immersed in what's onstage. Overall, a really cool piece and I'd be interested to see one of Punchdrunk's pieces myself if I ever could
I too am intrigued by scent design in the theatrical context; this is something that is seldom attempted in theatre, but can be quite powerful. Some haunted houses, including some in the Pittsburgh area, use it. At Hauntcon last May, Froggy's Fog had quite a display of scents and the means with which to distribute them. You could pretty easily and quickly deploy a scent into a theatre; I image the trouble would be in getting rid of it at a certain time.
This marriage of Punchdrunk and Playstation seems like a match made in heaven - Punchdrunk is easily a world leader in immersive theatrical experiences, and the video game industry not only has the capital to fund a project like this, but brings expertise in storytelling through interactivity. This experience takes a step beyond the traditional haunted house through interactivity - solving puzzles and collaborating with your fellow survivors - demonstrating the potential of these personalized experiences to affect visceral responses and increase audience engagement with the story. Like AJ pointed out, the gut-wrenching response to odors and scare tactics are what we often try for in traditional theatre and fail to do simply because it's safer in the audience behind the fourth wall. There's no escape from the story here - you have to face it, and face your fears, if you're going to survive the experience.
I don't think I could ever do this. I'm terrified of lame Halloween Haunted Houses. But this sounds amazing! What a great idea! So many people are into this really involving the audience type of 4D experiences now-a-days why not try something this crazy and different. And the fact that they are partnering with Playstation is amazing and sounds like a match made in heaven! I hope I can work my courage up so I can actually see this. Also wouldn't it be funny in the next couple of years when they add a Smell Designer to every theater and college drama school. Now that would be truly revolutionary.
It's great that this reporter mentions how into it everyone in his party was-these days it seems everyone's big thing is trying to make theatre and entertainment "accessible," whatever that actually means. But this reminds us that when we can make the viewer (or better, participant) an integral piece in the puzzle, they will ultimately give themselves over to it and make the experience that much fuller for themselves and everyone else.
While I think their choice of doing Resistance 3 is questionable; I really wish I could go and check this thing out. Within the video game industry there are lots of very inventive advertising campaigns and techniques that at times seems somewhat unique to the industry. The yearly E3 convention is full of things kind of like what Punchdrunk has done, but generally do not get any news time outside of gaming since the convention is very much aimed at and really only followed by gamers or those within the gaming industry. It's nice seeing the more inventive advertisements getting the recognition they deserve.
Post a Comment