There’s a boundary-pushing mini-festival in town, combining two profoundly different arts on each end of the spectrum. The New Gamegrounds festival aims to bring together the world of gamers and theater performers. It’s a fun exploration of crossovers and interdisciplinary innovation between computer games and contemporary theater performance. Namely with one big question in mind:
What can game developers and theater makers learn from one another? And does that interaction change our perception of art?
The vibe encompasses what its creators, De Brakke Grond and Playful Arts, are all about: collaboration, innovation and brave attitudes in new ways to express yourself. So if improvisation and weird and wonderful ways of telling a story are your thing, there’ll be an abundance of it at New Gamegrounds.
The program consists of various workshops, games, talks and performances, featuring the likes of DIY Escape Room by game designer Tim Bosie; a no-graphics-digitally-enabled dueling game (Johann Sebastian Joust), designed for motion controllers, where your movements are controlled by the tempo of the music (step aside, Wii); the new android/IOS game Bounden, a dancing app for two players, whereby you find yourself twisting, turning and entangling yourselves, choreographed by the Dutch National Ballet. And there are dialogs between experts delving into game manipulation and ethics, too – does gamification really influence real behavior?
New works will be created and performed during the festival through rehearsals and workshops by those involved in the Playful Jam. If you’d like to join the jam and create new theater, drop them a line here.
New Gamegrounds is designed for game enthusiasts and makers and those interested in interactive theater. Join in and let your inner creative out.
New Gamegrounds
When: Wednesday April 29 & Thursday April 30, 16:00-20:00
Where: Vlaams Cultuurhuis De Brakke Grond
Tickets: Two-day pass €17,-, €13,50 with a CJP pass
More info: Website
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