La Grande Évasion

SYNOPSIS
IA#73545 is a fugitive from justice, suspected of crimes of espionage, a saboteur of intergalactic military products, with a reputation for collusion with known intergalactic terrorists and human drug cartels. She has just commandeered the Capella Comet as her escape — an artificially engineered colony, created in a joint-venture between the intergalactic military and her’s father’s company. With the help of the comet’s information avatar, Janai reviews her father’s old recordings, mourns her mother’s recent death, upgrades the comet’s dated technology and ponders her next move across the universe.

ABOUT
This play was initially envisioned for a proscenium stage with an (alternative) immersive theatre scenario emerging as an intergalactic cafe setting (as if watching the play unfold from a cafe on the comet itself). However, the IA#73545 storyworld was always envisioned in native VR, where it was likely to reside most naturally. A filmic VR version of this stage play is currently envisioned as a 180-degree immersive experience. It can also (potentially) be divided between a live stage play and a VR experience (potentially with Positron chairs) for a hybrid immersive theatre experience.

INSPIRATION
The jumping off point for this play was Samuel Beckett’s “Krapp’s Last Tape,” where the protagonist records musings on the year past after listening to a recording from a year earlier. La Grande Évasion revolves around this ritual, but shows the next generation reviewing the recordings, amidst other external issues unfolding. While a significant departure Beckett’s work, this play borrows details (sprinkled throughout) as well as some structural aspects and interwoven narrative.

Currently a WiP... to be completed c. 2023-4.
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