Interactive, Live, with Ludic Elements

Wayfinding: Taxonomy > Interactive & Gamified Theatre > The Spectrum of Interactivity and Gamification in Digital Theatre > Interactive, Live, with Ludic Elements

These interactive performances feature live actors and typically have puzzles to solve or they cast the audience in a role. However, the games do not have a specific end goal, and the interactions may not influence the ending of the performance. For example the performance of Finding WiiLii from Ferryman Collective had all the appearance of a videogame: the show occurs in VRChat (accessible either through a headset or using a laptop), the audience are given avatar to ‘wear’ like a costume and told who we are in the world, then given instructions about cleaning up a virtual city together. As we moved from one area to another, two live performers moved with us, telling us how to use our tools and clean while also having a conversation that was, basically, exposition. However, the show could only run for one hour, and the ending is the same every time; although we in the audience had a task to perform, it ultimately did not matter how well we did it or even if we did it at all (I was not able to get my stick to pick up the WiiLii, for instance). The live performers would simply move us to another part of the show, while we were immersed in our part of the performance. Game Changers from Megaverse operated similarly: although I was an audience member on the streaming side, watching the recordings of the show on YouTube, there was an option for members of the livestreamed audience to directly engage with the show. Live performers in mocap were embodied as avatar-characters in the 3-D animation, with one of the performers being an A.I.-bot named E.C.O. There were a series of scenes setting up the near-future climate change-impacted Northern England town, and the three young adult climate protestors hoping to use their creativity to make positive change. I watched two versions, in which one character fights her corporate mother like in a videogame battle, with the audience influencing whether she wins or not; there are also moments where the audience can influence whether money from said corporation is accepted or rejected by the protest group to fuel their aims. In between scenes, E.C.O. engages with the livestream chat, which is visible because E.C.O.’s front is a screen; E.C.O. reads some of the written messages and verbally responds and will sometimes poll the audience on what they think of the show and how they take their tea. Ultimately, the show ends in a similar way with the protestors creating an art installation to raise awareness about climate change’s harms, but the scenes in between have some audience influence and this can be quite tense. The collective engagement is a huge part of feeling like a community in the show, regardless of the outcome.