A new creation from award-winning theatre company Outside the March will use video game technology to tell a real-life story about Huntington’s disease, a rare genetic illness.
“No Save Points,” created and performed by theatre veteran Sébastien Heins, will premiere in Toronto this summer, placing a video game controller in the hands of the audience as Heins performs. Audience members will push buttons and manipulate wireless controllers to direct Heins’ actions. Haptic signals will tell Heins where and how to move, all based on the commands of the audience.
The story is inspired by the real-life story of Heins’ mother and her diagnosis with Huntington’s disease. Several award-winning Toronto theatre artists have come together to conceive the show, produced in association with Modern Times Stage Company, including playwright Donna-Michelle St. Bernard, director Rouvan Silogix and designer Anahita Dehbonehie.
“When I was much younger, I remember wanting to escape into a Gameboy,” Heins told CP24. “And that feeling came up again about nine years ago, when my mother was diagnosed with Huntington’s, which is a degenerative disease.”
Heins hopes audiences are able to take this unique theatrical experience and apply it to their own lives. “We want people to feel that they have some control,” he said. “There are big, scary things happening in our lives, whether that be a diagnosis or a big news story or any number of things. I want people to feel like they’re in control.
“This show cannot happen without the audience,” he continued. “Their control is absolutely necessary. I want the show to feel like a toy they get to play with.”
“No Save Points” will be presented from June 6-25 by Starvox Entertainment at Lighthouse ArtSpace downtown.
