Weird schemes inside some bold minds? Freud Eggs or just Frankly Bacon? When is a door not a door? When it is a jar. Relax and float down the streams of your subconscious mind as Interactive Theatre and Virtual Reality contrive to singe your synapsis with –
WHIST
Following a series of performances in London, Bournemouth and Stuttgart, ‘WHIST’, creators AΦE are thrilled to present their latest theatre and Virtual Reality production at Festival Theatre Edinburgh.
Inspired by Sigmund Freud’s dream theory, WHIST invites audiences on a journey into the unconscious mind, where instincts will be the guide through a narrative of surreal dreams and fears. Combining Physical Theatre and Mixed Reality Technology, the production brings the magic of theatre together with the type of special effects only possible in the world of film.
WHIST incorporates 360˚ interactive film, soundscapes and an architectural art installation to create an environment that blurs all boundaries – between consciousness and unconsciousness, reality and fiction, the physical and the virtual. Immersed in a world of unfolding dreams, the viewer chooses his or her own path, creating a truly unique narrative dependent on choice – their personal decisions made through the course of the mesmerising hour-long experience.
Enter a large open space and the viewer is faced with a series of large-scale, geometric objects. This is the real world, but once the VR headset is worn, you are in dreamland, invited into the world of three main characters, figures lifted from Freud’s own patient case studies.
“We had many conversations with psychoanalysts working at the Freud Museum and were introduced to several patient case studies. We thought: ‘What if those patients formed one single family?’ And there we were, completely immersed in their worlds…Freud’s own theories about fears, dreams, symbolism in dreams and the notion of the unconscious is just the beginning.” Esteban & Aoi (AΦE)
Or is that just what they want us to think? Is the looking-glass half full or an empty vessel making strange sounds?
Or maybe, as Zaphod Beeblebox’s personal brain-care specialist would have it, ‘Hey, Zaphod’s just zis guy, you know!’
The creative collaborators of WHIST include global creative studio Happy Finish as technology partner, composers Scott Gibbons and Jozef van Wissem (winner of the Cannes Best Soundtrack Award), and set designer James Shaw.
FESTIVAL THEATRE EDINBURGH, MILBURN FOYER
FRIDAY 21 JULY 2017 – THURSDAY 3 AUGUST 2017 Performance times vary.
Tickets on sale Thursday 8 June from 10am
WHIST – Virtual Reality Experience Festival Theatre Edinburgh, Milburn Foyer Fri 21 Jul – Thu 3 Aug 2017
Tickets: £10, www.edtheatres.com/whist 0131 529 6000
