Tag Archives: VAULT Festival 2020

Jekyll & Hyde

Jekyll & Hyde

★★★½

VAULT Festival 2020

Reviews, , , , , ,

Jekyll & Hyde

Jekyll & Hyde

The Vaults

Reviewed – 25th February 2020

★★★½

 

“Fire Hazard Games offer a slick production”

 

Combining mobile gaming, real-world scavenger hunting, narrative storytelling and live performance, Jekyll and Hyde is the latest immersive experience from Fire Hazard Games.

Players meet the chemist Emerson Frey (Daniel Chrisostomou), the lawyer Jude Edmonton (Tim Kennington) and the psychoanalyst Aubrey Goldmann (Chloe Mashiter) who explain that last night you committed a terrible deed. However, you, Dr Jekyll, cannot remember what you did as you took a mysterious serum that both altered your personality and caused selective amnesia of the night’s events.

Players – either solo or in a team of up to three – must thus uncover their missing memories by solving online clues and make decisions about their future, all while under increasing time pressure.

The plot is relatively simple, and there is a fair degree of customisation depending on the choices made. However, it is rather easy for players to ignore the game’s story and focus only on solving clues, as one does not need to remember earlier information to solve later clues.

There are 21 locations with clues to solve around the Waterloo area. It is unlikely that players will have time to cover all of these which gives the game a fair amount of replay value. The most atmospheric locations are the Church (set in the spooky grounds of St John’s Church on Waterloo Road) and the Hospital (set outside the nineteenth century Royal Waterloo Hospital for Children and Women). Other locations, such as Press Night (next to the Young Vic), do not set the scene so well, with blatant reminders – like a Sainsbury’s Local – that players are not in fact exploring Victorian London.

At select locations, Frey, Edmonton and Goldmann will appear to offer players a deal that will affect the outcome of their game. For example, at the Church, Frey makes a frightening appearance, encouraging you to come under his ward and continue the experiments with the mysterious serum. The trio do well to stay in character and are a helpful reminder to think beyond clue hunting and about the wider story.

Unfortunately, not every team will meet the characters individually as this is entirely dependent on the locations one visits. This is a shame for those participants who are especially interested in becoming immersed in the story and its world.

The mobile aspect of the game works well for the most part, though poor internet connectivity outside the VAULT Festival where the game begins does not fill players with much initial confidence. The game is dependent on a strong internet connection and significant phone charge and if these fail there is no way to rejoin. Frey, Edmonton and Goldmann can track players and their actions on their own devices which are cleverly hidden in empty book props. This also means that they can tailor their conversations if they do meet.

Jekyll and Hyde is a lot of fun and Fire Hazard Games offer a slick production that does fairly well to adapt a complicated and multifaceted experience to different interests and game play styles.

 

Reviewed by Flora Doble

 

VAULT Festival 2020

 

 

Click here to see all our reviews from VAULT Festival 2020

 

Alexa Play

Alexa, Play

★★★★

VAULT Festival 2020

Reviews, , , , ,

Alexa Play

Alexa, Play

Crypt – The Vaults

Reviewed – 25th February 2020

★★★★

 

“a fine example of the creative power of theatre, reimagining existing references to make something new and resonant for today”

 

An infamous true crime of 1930s France is given an intelligent contemporary spin in the fascinating “Alexa, Play” another tremendous “Black Mirror” influenced offering in the VAULT Festival.

The case of Christine and Léa Papin, two sisters working as maids who were convicted of murdering their employer’s wife and daughter in Le Mans in 1933, was a sensation that has been the motivation for a number of books, songs, films and plays. The most renowned is Jean Genet’s “The Maids” which he always denied in spite of the obvious parallels.

Here, writer Ruth Connick pulls off the clever twist of one of the “maids” being a rather well-known and much-used smart speaker which may or may not have developed a mind of its own.

Connick’s thrilling first full-length text follows the structure of Genet’s 1947 play, but is never constrained by it. Familiarity with the original case or the French play allows a knowing respect rather than being a necessary requirement for audiences.

In this version Connick is first-rate as Annie, the downtrodden PA working for an unpleasant “Boss Lady” who has somehow just been cleared of major tax evasion. In the dressing room of her employer’s house (sumptuously suggested by a dressing table, fine dresses and shoes and a futuristic stand on which an Alexa rests – design by Connick again, who also co-directs) Annie and the Alexa have an intriguing relationship.

The crucial question is if the apparently manipulative technology is displaying signs of emotion and individuality as the pair appear to role play the class division that exists in the household and plot to see off the boss.

The scornful and arrogant Boss Lady – “bubble-wrapped with affluence” – is played by Laura Schuller, who also co-directs with style. She gives a chilling portrayal of the abusive character who looks down on everyone, even to the extent of bribing the court to ensure her release.

The third “performer” is Alexa. The voice sounds scarily similar to the real thing, so it may be that some extremely nifty sound design by Harvey Jones (aka as boundary-smashing dub techno musician El Choop) has adapted some genuine smart responses. The effect is eerily reminiscent of any number of fictional computers which expand their artificial intelligence to take charge, such as Kubrick’s HAL 2000.

“Alexa, Play” is a penetrating multi-faceted fringe drama, which manages to explore the shared paranoia of the put-upon, bullied workers, the cruel consequences of the class divide and a day after tomorrow nervousness about modern technology.

This is the first production from the two performers, who have worked closely together since 2014, as newly-founded theatre duo Connick & Schuller, and it holds exciting promise for the future. It is a fine example of the creative power of theatre, reimagining existing references to make something new and resonant for today.

 

Reviewed by David Guest

 

VAULT Festival 2020

 

 

Click here to see all our reviews from VAULT Festival 2020