In Short: Brave, successful in its aims, left me both enthused and disappointed.
New Atlantis had Punchdrunk actors in the cast and one of the scientists was known to friends. I went hoping for something exciting and different, but nervous because the pre-event publicity placed the audience in role as ‘agents’ of a futuristic society, one of my pet hates.
It was an enjoyable evening and got great audience feedback. It definitely introduced a range of people to climate science that wouldn’t usually care, and was brave enough to hire an atmospheric building that fit perfectly. I enjoyed my 1to1 experience which was subtle, simple and involved ladling water.
But despite decent performances by the cast (and many of the scientists) the whole was theatrically weak – built around long speechifying to the audience at the beginning and end of the evening.
As for the game side of it, they used two sets of voting mechanisms – great ways to give audiences agency – however no consequences played out from these so narrative disappointment ensued. Moreover, there was a strange disconnect from the gameworld of 2050 and the science from 2015. The final disappointment was that in hunting for the rebellion hinted at in the opening I found myself drawn away from the science.
Vital Stats:
Show: New Atlantis
Company: The Enlightenment Cafe
Venue:The Crystal, Royal Victoria Docks
Date: January 2015
Long form exploration of some of the issues (and I do mean long!)
is200enough? 