ZU-UK and T.A.G. Montreal Present Scaling Intimacy in Theatre and Games

In celebration of their ongoing partnership with T.A.G. Montréal, and further to opening their interactive dating experience Binaural Dinner Date at Rich Mix on 13 February, award-winning live art company ZU-UK will present Scaling Intimacy in Theatre and Games on 17 February - an afternoon of games, conversations, a VR performance, and a panel discussion.

Exploring the intersection between interactive theatre and games, the event will explore the tensions between the scalability of automated games and the intimacy of participatory live performance. This is a gathering for audiences from a range of interests and experiences, including academics, technologists, designers and makers.

The event will feature a range of experiences, including the one-on-one VR mixed reality 'demo' from ZU-UK Goodnight, Sleep Tight, games and talks from guests including writer and sex educator Alix Fox (BBC Radio 1/Netflix) and BAFTA-winning VR specialist Catherine Allen.

"Participatory theatre experiences are often ideal for producing conditions of scaffolded intimacy between actors and participants, whilst digital games are ideal for producing robust interactive experiences at scale" says T.A.G. Montréal co-founder Bart Simon. "At the crossroads of these two forms of participatory media, we wonder if it's possible to explore varieties of scaled intimacy? Could digital games capture what participatory theatre does best and vice versa?"

Since its inception in 2001, ZU-UK has a history of incorporating technology as well as game-design in order to put audiences at the centre of carefully crafted theatrical experiences. The company directors work exclusively in interactive performance making, and their well known mixture of elaborate, dark and political yet tongue-in-cheek personal experiences also form a prominent part of their current production Binaural Dinner Date at Rich Mix, co-developed with T.A.G. Montréal. The collaboration between ZU-UK and T.A.G. started in 2015 and has been dedicated to creating a new vocabulary for both theatre makers and game designers.

The company continue to present Binaural Dinner Date at Rich Mix until 2 March, before taking the show on a national tour.

Scaling Intimacy in Theatre and Games
17 February, 12.30-6pm
Rich Mix
£5 or FREE to Binaural Dinner Date ticket holders
https://richmix.org.uk/events/scaling-intimacy-in-theatre-and-games/

https://richmix.org.uk/events/binaural-dinner-date/