Disaster preparedness comes into play in interactive Revelations
Board games, escape rooms, and the end of the world all inform the hybrid show by Upintheair Theatre in association with Rumble Theatre
Anjela Magpantay is among the Revelation Consultants in the hybrid show Revelations. Photo by Marjo Wright
The Shadbolt Centre for the Arts presents Upintheair Theatre’s Revelations by Anahita Dehbonehie, Griffin McInnes, and Aidan Morishita-Miki In association with Rumble Theatre, September 18 to 26 (times vary).
WHEN THE CREATIVE team behind Revelations first started working on their immersive theatrical production, the thought of everyday folks stocking up on toilet paper and flour seemed unimaginable. This was before the novel coronavirus became a household word. Toronto-based artists Anahita Dehbonehie, Griffin McInnes, and Aidan Morishita-Miki had been exploring anxiety as a theme, and they had become aware of “preppers”—people who prepare for worst-case scenarios. So when COVID-19 became a reality, it became obvious fairly quickly that the three were on to something.
“The show started with the core idea being in relationship to anxiety, how there are low levels and high levels depending on where you fall on the spectrum and how anxiety increases and decreases,” Dehbonehie tells Stir by phone. “We had a fascination with the prepping community. Preparing for disaster really felt like the ultimate expression of combatting and expressing that anxiety.
“We made all these jokes about having a guy in a haz-mat suit with toilet paper rolls attached to him,” she says. “It seemed funny to us. Three weeks later, it was like, ‘Guys, I think we’re living in our show now’—it was just wild.”
The work grew from there, with pandemic restrictions, physical distancing, isolation, survival, and the need for human connection all playing into the creative process and the subject matter. “It seems really built for the moment,” Dehbonehie says.
Viewers opt to work collaboratively with people inside their bubble during Revelations—or not. Photo by Marjo Wright
Questioning ideas around catastrophe and confronting issues such as inequality and the climate crisis, Revelations is a unique hybrid production—and a playful one at that. Part live performance, part interactive game, it draws inspiration from board games like Settlers of Catan and Risk, escape rooms, game shows, puzzles, role-playing, and live theatre.
It all starts well before viewers make their way to Deer Lake Park, where things culminate with an outdoor end-of-the-world dance party. Either solo or as a household of up to six people, audiences first get a visit at home from a “Revelations Consultant”, who hand-delivers a survival kit and a walkie-talkie. The game-play elements start from there and include further instructions. (Households must reside in East Vancouver, New Westminster, or Burnaby.)
It would be a spoiler to divulge too many details about what unfolds, but suffice to say viewers will have a choice to work collaboratively and cooperatively with the others in their bubble or not as they unravel clues and hints.
“Living in society during the pandemic has been almost like playing a losing game, and I think we were really excited by how to take those boundaries and make them enjoyable, how to gamify them in a positive way,” Dehbonehie says. “How can we make some of these things that are scary and new and uncomfortable into something positive or that adds flavour or spice to life?”
Presented by the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts and produced by Upintheair Theatre in association with Rumble Theatre, Revelations was initially developed as part of a residency at Kingston’s Kick and Push Festival in August 2020, with the support of the Ontario Arts Council.
The work was selected as the Updrafts Collaborative Commission by Upintheair Theatre this past spring. To bring the production to life locally, the creative team has collaborated remotely with Updrafts’ dramaturg, David Geary.
The more Revelations lives on, particularly amid the pandemic’s fourth wave, the more it rings true in many ways, Dehbonehie says.
“With the pandemic, a lot of people in the industry I predominantly function in started thinking about artists’ health—their mental health—with considerations like how much pressure there is, how much burnout exists,” Dehbonehie says. “There was more talk in the air about considering things like checking in with yourself, your levels of anxiety, your level of care, how you’re feeling, how you’re interacting with the people around you. So there’s more discussion around artists’ health rather than just excellence.
“It’s really interesting to think of having a holistic conversation and dialogue within this space,” she adds. “I’m excited for people to have something to think about when they leave. We’ve tried to build in fun in a lot of ways, but we’re also talking about the end of the world, disaster, and destruction. We’ve tried to make space to reflect and to have a safe space to reflect.”
For more information, see Upintheair.
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