MIssion Control: Mars is coming to Taranaki in October. Photo / Mark Tantrum
It’s theatre, but perhaps not as you know it.
Mission Control: Mars uses gaming technology and effects to create an interactive theatre experience that takes the audience on an interstellar adventure. Stratford Press editor Ilona Hanne caught up with co-creator Kip Chapman to find out more before Mission Control: Mars lands in Taranaki as part of this October’s Reimagine Festival, bought to the region by the Taranaki Arts Festival Trust (TAFT).
How would you describe Mission Control Mars? It’s not traditional theatre as such is it?
No. It’s an interactive experience. I would call it a cross between a theatre show, a video game and a blockbuster movie. So everyone gets an interactive tablet which connects to a screen and to the others around them, and everyone gets to interact with the story through that tablet. They are also interacting with the people sitting by them, and everyone in the room.
Do the actions of the audience members through that tablet change or influence the outcome of the show?
It’s designed in a way that the audience can really influence the experience but the show alone works to a great story every night. Think of it like a video game, the world is built and the main adventure is there for you. You can just go along for the ride or you can go off on side journeys in it. It’s up to you how much or how little you engage with it.
So people aren’t forced to interact if they don’t want? They won’t miss out?
We worked really hard on making our show accessible to everyone, and as part of that we know some people love interaction and others would rather experience the show without interacting much or at all. The technology allows us to make it work for all levels, so you can sit back and enjoy it, you can interact through the tablet, you can get really involved, even say things. Everyone can enjoy the level of interaction they are comfortable with. And you can come back multiple times and enjoy multiple experiences.
It doesn’t sound like traditional theatre, it’s not just breaking the 4th wall, it’s completely removing it?
Yes, video game technology is the closest medium to what we are trying to do. You get to go inside the story not just watch. All we have been trying to do over the past 15 years is to make it the most immersive experience possible for our audiences.
Who is we?
Brad Knewstubb and I are Hackman, that’s our company, and we have been specialising in building interactive experiences like this for 15 years now. In 2008 we did the first show - Apollo 13: Mission control in which we told the survival story of Apollo 13. We built a working replica of Nasa mission control for it. It toured New Zealand, Australia and the US. Then in 2021 we got funding from Aotearoa New Zealand Festival of the Arts and Te Papa to build Te Papa’s first interactive exhibit - Destination Mars. This show is the touring version of that.
Why take it on tour?
We want as many people as possible to experience this type of show and we want to take it around the country and overseas.
What may surprise people about this show?
I think just how rich the environment we have created is. The tablets have so much content on them, it will never all be seen in just one sitting. In a movie, it’s created to make you look at specific things at specific times. The cameras tell you where to look, be it a close-up or a big scene. The director, through the cameras and editing, controls all you see. In this, we let you look anywhere. Theatre generally has an element of that, and this takes it further. We have the tablets, we have a big screen, we have the setting, and it is up to you what you look at when, and how you look at things.
As special effects and gaming technology get better and better, do audiences expect more - and is that good?
Yes absolutely, and it’s great. I think they expect more and in turn that pushes us to create bigger and more immersive experiences. We try to do the most with what we have available to us. In the future we want to use more AI in our work and explore different ways we can do that. In this show we have a robot and are using voice simulation for it, it means we can really change things around. Technology is growing and that makes our work expand and grow.
Do you have an audience type or age you like best - that you think you get the best results from?
We find the shows work best when there is a mix of adults and kids in the audience. When we started, we didn’t have kids, we were making shows for our own age group really, but we ran matinees, and we noticed a lot of kids were coming and we saw how they interacted with it all, and it added a different layer to it.
So who should come and see Mission Control: Mars when it is in Taranaki this month?
I don’t say it lightly when I say we focus on making shows for everybody. Obviously people who love tech will enjoy the show but also people who maybe haven’t experienced something like this before. Think of it like The Simpsons - that has jokes for kids, but also jokes for adults. This show is like that, there are things for all levels and all types of audience in it. It’s important to say, we will never take the mickey out of our audience. We know some people aren’t keen on audience interaction and there is space for everyone here. It’s our job to make sure everyone in the audience has fun and a great experience. We have spent 15 years working on making sure we are creating fun, entertaining and inclusive experiences for our audience.
The Details:
What: Mission Control: Mars
When: Saturday, October 14, sessions running throughout the day
Where: Govett Brewster Art Gallery Cinema, Len Lye Centre, New Plymouth.
Tickets: www.reimaginefestival.co.nz