CandyBomber Presents The World Premiere Of FRAY, May 26-27

Today, CandyBomber Productions Founder and Creative Director Kate Duhamel announced the world premiere of FRAY.

The live performance will bring the video game universe to life through an innovative blend of authentic game design visuals, an original music composition, and a fusion of hip hop and ballet. FRAY will premiere at Stanford Live at 8 p.m. on Thursday, May 26 and Friday, May 27, 2022. The world premiere coincides with the release of a stand-alone video game based on the production, placing parts of the performance in the audiences' hands, which they can explore before and after the show. Tickets for FRAY are $45 and are available now at live.stanford.edu/calendar/may-2022/candybomber-productions-presents-fray

"The engaging, beautiful worlds within video games can help us escape, work through our struggles, or see through another lens," says Duhamel. "CandyBomber is pushing collaborative boundaries with FRAY, creating a transmedia experience where video games are not only integrated into the original story but also in the visual storytelling. Audiences will be placed directly in the shoes of the characters, experiencing what it means when the bond between loved ones begins to fray."

FRAY ventures into a new frontier, weaving video games into the DNA of a live dance show, and carrying the show's same characters and storylines over to a playable game. The interplay of live show and game creates a novel and layered experience of discovery for gamers and non-gamers alike.

Brothers Tullio and Ziya share a deep bond and a passion for video games that light up their sparse world with colorful landscapes. The imaginary characters who inspire and challenge them are much like the people they meet in the real world outside. The brothers enter a contest to build their own video game, which is inspired by themselves, with their on-screen avatars taking up challenges they encounter in real life. Within the game, their avatar hearts grow as they join forces, working as their superpower. As they confront bullies and inner demons in their real lives, the same superpower is evident. But real life isn't a game, and dark forces threaten to draw them apart. Tullio finds himself in a real-life quest in which there is no game controller that can help him steer his brother away from the perilous influences that attract him. As he understands the solution can't simply be programmed into a computer, Tullio must confront what it means to love someone you could be losing.

The dancers who will be performing in FRAY include Jakevis Thomason as Tullio; K'niin as his older brother, Ziya; Max Pham as Manny; and Ardyn Flynt as Devon. Additional performers will be announced at a later date.

Under the creative direction of Producer Kate Duhamel, the FRAY project encompasses the FRAY Show, the FRAY Game and mobile app. Following CandyBomber's formula for original productions created through surprising collaboration, FRAY is developed by a unique team of a musician, five dancers, video designers, and video game developers. Along with Duhamel, who wrote the original story, the creative team includes Music Director James Jackson, who worked on CandyBomber's debut show, FURY. Choreographer d. Sabela grimes built the movement for the FRAY Show. The creative team for FRAY also features Designer Adam Jeffcoat; Video Game Designer Herobeat Studios; and Stage Video Designers Mark Benis and Mark Lohmann of Moon Moon Moon.

The FRAY video game is a real version of the fictional game the brothers build in the story. Players step directly into Tullio's shoes, learning dance moves and sequences in order to avoid obstacles, solve puzzles, and dance battle enemies. The player will receive protection and guidance early on from his older brother character Ziya, and like the story on stage, experience his loss as Ziya gradually weakens, lured away by dark forces as they progress through the game's four levels. The player will have to step up his dancing skills further, taking the lead to acquire enough energy to carry Ziya to the final destination, an allegorical home. The FRAY Game is a single-player rhythm-based exploration and puzzle game made for PCs and consoles.

A short mobile app, downloadable through a QR code at the live show, will create additional links between the FRAY Show and the FRAY Game. In a dance-based challenge that takes music from the live show and video animation from the FRAY Game, the player will recognize that the main character on stage is the same as the playable character, Tullio.

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