Presented with
“They smuggle art, not bombs into reality, and observe the audience observing the explosion.” - Die Zeit, Germany
Jan 29–Feb 6, 7pmVancouver East Cultural CentreMatinee Saturdays at 2pm and Sundays at 4pm
No performance Feb 1
Post-show talkback Feb 4, led by Tim Carlson
Special Pay-what-you-can Preview Jan 27, 7pm
Created by Helgard Haug, Stefan Kaegi
Dramaturge Tim Carlson
Video Design Candelario Andrade
Set Design Andreas Kahre
Sound Design Stefan Smulovitz
Lighting Design John Webber
Game Design Brady Marks
Character animation and modeling Carl Emil Carlsen, John Warner
Game Programming Dan Coburn
Gaming Project Coordination and Sound Operation Sean Arden
Tour Management / Stage Management Dani Fecko, Ben Cheung
Lighting Operation and Technical Support Sarah Mansikka
Production Management DK
Technical Direction James Foy
Video interview Vito Misceo (La Casa Gelato)
Performers Duff Armour, Ellen Schultz, Bob Williams, Brady Marks
Live Music Ron Samworth
Best Before is a PuSh Festival commission that pulls the multi-player video game out of the virtual realm and plugs it into an intimate theatre setting. Each audience member navigates an anonymous avatar, interacting with a panel of on-stage experts — an electronic artist, a game tester, a politician and a traffic flagger. A simulated city, BestLand, gradually develops as each of the 200 audience members add their personal touch with game controller in hand. Taking its inspiration from Vancouver's gaming industry, BestLand evolves and devolves as the audience clashes and collaborates while making personal, social and political decisions.
“Rimini Protokoll brings real life to the stage in a way that no other theatre form has been able to. The unmistakable strength of these performances lies above all in the fact…that life could gain the upper hand, and theatre could lose control over itself.” - Frankfurter Rundschau
The work of Rimini Protokoll is a theatre of Münchausian escapades. Having created over 20 new works - all sharing a very distinct house style - the company has attracted attention throughout Europe for blurring the line between reality and fiction. With non-actors such as construction flaggers, game designers, professors of pathology, elderly women, unemployed air traffic controllers and retired miniature train enthusiasts, “experts in daily life” are the real protagonists for Rimini Protokoll.
www.rimini-protokoll.de
Commissioned by PuSh International Performing Arts Festival
Co-Producers:
Goethe-Institut
Brighton Festival
Hebbel - Theater Berlin GmbH
Luminato, Toronto Festival of Arts and Creativity
PuSh International Performing Arts Festival
Rimini Apparat
Vancouver East Cultural Centre, “The Cultch”
La Bâtie-Festival de Genève
Supported by Arts Partners in Creative Development and the Federal Republic of Germany
PREMIERE
Tickets from $27 - $40
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RSVP to Best Before on the PuSh Festival facebook page
Related postings on PuShing It: The PuSh Festival Blog
December 19, 2009 - Rimini Protokoll's Best Before Dress Rehearsal and Game Test
January 11, 2010 - PuSh 2010 Curatorial Statement: Best Before
January 26, 2010- Best Before, a 200 person video game!
January 31, 2010 - Best Before Audience Feedback
February 1, 2010 - More reflections on Best Before
Links
Best Before was chosen as one of the top ten Cultural Olympiad "shows you shouldn't miss" ... find out who else is on the list!
Read an interview with Rimini Protokoll from May 2009
Watch a Youtube Clip of rehearsal footage from Best Before
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