Masquerade
Creating audience participation and spectacle in the city.
Masquerade is a theatrical street game event that was commissioned by Without Walls and toured UK festivals within the Without Walls Consortium including Brighton Festival, Winchester Hat Fair, Stockton Festival during summer 2017.
Over the last few years we have been making a wide variety of outdoor work, which is interesting for us within the genre of street gaming as it allows us to redefine and reclaim our public space. It enables the participants in our games to attach new meanings and stories to the urban environment. Most of our work is site specific and often has multiple locations so it was an interesting challenge when approaching the design of Masquerade to create something that was in one location and could be easily toured to different festivals and venues.
Masquerade is a theatrical street game designed for 100 participants and invites people to a masked ball set within a dystopian steampunk society where player’s identities are masked and actions are anonymous. Participants receive instructions through their phones from the tyrannical host of the ball whilst an undercurrent of a resistance from characters in the ball is spread amongst the guests. During the game participants played short games that surreptitiously choreographed dances providing a great spectacle for audiences and members of the public who chose to watch the action.
What these types of games do so well is that they bring people together; they have a format that encourages social participation and play but also offers spectacle to those who wish to watch. If you are interested in booking Masquerade for your event or would like us to create something bespoke for your organisation get in touch – yello@yellobrick.co.uk
