Futebol
completedPlayOn!
SummaryFOOTBALL as a spectacle has lasted for five thousand years: it began as a rite of the first agrarian societies; turned into competition in the Middle Ages; changed in the encounter with the mystical cults of Central and South America until it becomes the current modern game. In this popular and erudite game, the participation of fans will be decisive throughout the match. Through a mobile application (available for Android and iOS), the public can vote in real time for the players who will occupy the theatrical positions on stage.
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A Teatro O Bando production as part of the Creative Europe project PlayOn! in collaboration with the University of York
Introduction
What questions did you have at the start of this project?
How to implement smartphones and a vote system inside a theatre show in a way that changes the narrative.
What technology was the focus of the work, and why
A voting app.
What did you hope to explore in terms of technology, form, and content?
The idea is to create a show where 4 actors perform 16 different characters. The audience decide in real time which actors should perform which characters, and the cast is ready to perform any character.
The app, designed as a football app, allows the audience not only to make the decision but also to continue to follow the “final result” of each show throughout the season.
Creative Process
How did the collaborators work together on this project?
Ben Kirman, the tech designer of the app worked directly with João Neca, the dramaturgist and the director of the show and with Maria Taborda, the graphic designer of the theatre company. The developing of the app occurred during COVID-19 times and because of that all the work was made remotely.
What forms of trial-and-error occurred?
We made open rehearsals with the audience to test the app, using a PlayOn" app called "OnScene".
One of the major questions that changed during the creative process is the need of an internet connection to use the app. Because we perform the show in places that don't have stable internet connection, we changed the app to an offline mode.
What were the key milestones in the development of the production?
Our research was to integrate tech inside the show without breaking and actually increasing the artistic relation of the audience with the narrative.
Reflections
We can certainly say that the result was better than we imagined. It was a very unique experience for the audience.
We performed more that 20 shows in several different places around Portugal and it was a remarkable moment inside the story of Teatro O Bando and Teatro de Montemuro (our co-creator).
It was the first time both companies have used an app inside a theatre show.
What elements of the final production would you change?
Everything and anything at the same time. When we finish an artwork, we’re always unsatisfied - it's our natural condition to continue to discover new things in the world that we want to reflect.
If other people were to take a similar approach, what advice would you give?
Be confident and take the risk.
