Create Your Own Adventure with First Stage!
PELIGRO ISLAND, a Create Your Own Adventure Play written by Finegan Kruckemeyer. In this interactive production, audience members will be able to vote in real-time on what happens next for story’s unlikely hero, Callaway Brown. Stranded on a desert island, where Callaway goes next is completely up to the audience. Will Callaway time travel to the Wild West and meet a talking horse? Battle baddies in a secret underwater lair? Develop superpowers and fight crime in the future? Or have a crush on a vampire? The choice is yours!
As a Create
Your Own Adventure Play is a relatively new concept, First Stage took a moment
to speak with Artistic Director Jeff Frank about the play’s history and what
audiences can look forward to with this fun and interactive play.
The playwright of ESCAPE FROM
PELIGRO ISLAND, Finegan Kruckemeyer, is a familiar name around First Stage.
What other plays have we seen of his?
First Stage has presented ANTARTCIA, WI
(2017/2018 season) and THE SNOW (2015/2016 season). THE SNOW was our first
Finegan production. I had seen his work multiple times and had listened to him
speak. I was lucky enough to sit down next to him at a conference and asked him
what he wanted to write next. He sent me a treatment for THE SNOW and I was
hooked. I love his language, inventiveness and his respect for a young person’s
point of view. As much as ESCAPE FROM PELIGRO ISLAND is a rollicking,
adventurous good time, there is also a deeper look at families, loneliness, and
discovering the hero within.
Is this your first time directing
a Create Your Own Adventure Play?
Yes, it is! However, I’m so
thankful to have seen a lovely production at Imagination Stage in Maryland, and
to have also had a chance to work on ESCAPE FROM PELIGRO ISLAND earlier as part
of our Foundry Stage Series. Both experiences have definitely helped with this
exciting project.
Tell
us more about what First Stage learned from producing ESCAPE FROM PELIGRO
ISLAND as a new play reading in the Foundry Stage Series last season.
Of course. The reading took place
two summers ago following Academy end of day, and we had an audience of around fifty
or so young people and families. We actually presented the reading twice in a
row in order to give audiences a sense of what might happen with different
choices.
The audience response was
fabulous. Folks were really invested in what might happen next, and there was lots
of laughter. There was also an intriguing sense of community as folks rooted
for their choice to win during each vote.
Overall, First Stage learned how
challenging it is to present a Create Your Own Adventure Play. Essentially,
each of the actors need to learn four different plays—each of which has
multiple storylines that can be traveled based on how the audience votes.
Our actors have an incredibly
awesome task before them, but at the same time, they are having so much fun
playing these bold characters.
Speaking of the actors, how do they
prepare for performing the several storyline variations of this play?
Practice, practice, practice. We are
trying to give them as many repetitions of the storylines as possible.
How does audience voting work for
this play?
As the show gets ready to start,
anyone watching with a phone will see a code. After texting a message to that
code, they will be given access to vote throughout the show whenever needed. Families
may decide to use one phone and vote together as a family, or to let everyone
with a phone vote individually. Regardless, they will see the results populate
in real time, and then we’ll jump back into play’s action.
I expect each choice moment during
the play to take 1-2 minutes, and that most scenarios have 6-10 different
choice moments. Even with those little breaks, the show should run around 60
minutes in total.
What is the likelihood of the
cast performing every variant of the storyline during the production’s run?
Absolutely Zero. I can’t tell you
the exact math of it, but with all of the different choices within the various
strands there are hundreds of different permutations. I will say there are four
primary storylines… and I sincerely hope we journey down each of those paths
during the run.
How
does a Create Your Own Adventure Play translate to the virtual world?
As if producing a Create Your Own
Adventure Play wasn’t quite challenging enough, we decided to present it via
livestream in the virtual realm! Talk about daunting.
In reality, I think the play will
work incredibly well in the virtual format. It has a strong narrative vibe with
storytellers guiding the audience through much of young Calloway’s adventure—so
it has a bit of classic radio serials feel to it. The play also harkens back to
the golden age of comic books or the graphic novels of today. In fact, one
could consider this play a form of living graphic novel, with actors in panels
supplemented by backgrounds and graphics, and supported by sound.
The work done by our Video/Scenic
Designer, Kristen Ellert, has been remarkable. Kristen is creating the virtual
backdrops for numerous locations our characters might travel to. Sound Designer,
Elisabeth Weidner, layers in the all important sounds of those worlds, and
Costume Designer, Jazmin Medina, and our costume shop have created key elements
for each character to allow the actors to change swiftly from one role to
another. As always, Properties Master, Nikki Kulas, and Props Artisan, Melissa
Hunter, have built a bevy of props to help us bring the story to life.
The actors are all working from
home, and we are using the Zoom platform to rehearse and create. We will be
utilizing the Open Broadcaster Software (OBS) system which allows us to control
who is on screen when and where—while also providing opportunities for
backdrops (similar to the rest of the page on the graphic novel or comic book)
with occasional graphics to amplify story moments.
All of this necessitates a
different kind of rehearsal. We are blocking, but since the actors aren’t in
the room together, we have had to create a comprehensive plan for where each of
them are in every moment of the play. This is done so that the actors can
create the illusion of talking to one another, or in some cases, how they fight
one another, travel on jet skis, or ride in mining carts far under the ground.
The actors’ home studios are
filled with post-it notes and reminders of ‘where’ in space the other actors
are in relationship to them. It is super-challenging, but we are also having a
lot of fun working together to find creative storytelling solutions.
First Stage invites you and your family to “escape” with us. Your ticket to adventure awaits!
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