Laurel Green and asses.masses Presentation and Q&A

Laurel Green (she/her) is an artist and scholar whose work bridges games and participatory performance for social transformation. She is a core artist behind asses.masses, an internationally touring video game for the stage designed to be played live by an audience in a theatre as an epic eight hour collective journey. After asses.masses makes it Australian debut at the Opera House for the Sydney Festival on January 24-5, Laurel joins MAGPIE for a conversation about her practice and reflecting on the performance. She will share her ongoing research-creation projects exploring how the ways in which we play together impact the ways in which we live, work, and build community. How do shared games shape the future of storytelling? What is our crucial role as designers of collective and critical play?

This hybrid event will run from 2-3pm on Thursday the 29th of January in the Level 4 Linkway, John Medley on the University of Melbourne's Parkville campus, and online at this Zoom link: https://unimelb.zoom.us/j/83218774853?pwd=WeyElZb9r4qGx5bBf8CdrYbIhQv7jA.1&from=addon. There will be an opportunity to mingle after the presentation and Q&A.

Laurel is a dramaturg, producer, and interdisciplinary collaborator whose projects include video games for the stage, tabletop role-playing games for reimagining the arts ecosystem,  participatory gardening installations, App-based algorithmic change listening parties, and burial rituals for deceased technology. She is a Ph.D Student in Theatre and Performance at York University in Toronto, Canada, supported by Connected Minds, a research unit mapping effects of interactive technologies on collective behaviours, and Sensorium: Centre for Digital Arts & Technology. 

 Instagram : @asses.masses

asses.masses by Patrick Blenkarn and Milton Lim

Sydney Festival January 24 & 25

www.sydneyfestival.org.au/events/asses-masses 

Australian Exclusive Sydney Opera House

MAGPIE friends! For $45 tickets use promo code SF26INDUSTRYMASS

Will you lead the first ever donkey protest? In this epic, seven-hour video game, you take turns with fellow audience members to lead a herd of cheeky, rebellious donkeys to get their jobs back. Don’t worry, there are intervals and snacks provided throughout this communal gaming adventure. 

Bring your friends and get ready to make new ones in this provocative and engaging gaming marathon. One-by-one and with commentary from the crowd, together you will tackle 2D and 3D game genres, from side-scroller beat-‘em-ups to trivia quizzes, Guitar Hero-style button mashers, a rock n’ roll version of Pong and much more, as the donkeys go burro-ing through a post-Industrial world.  

This is theatre where you control the action, literally, and work collaboratively to overcome the puzzles and challenges encountered along the way. Laced with bawdy humour and social commentary, asses.masses will challenge your ass-umptions of what a live theatre experience can be.