Side Pony has been taking the its initial steps into interactive audio work with the new work in development, The Castle of Good Will.
Six audience members participate in the work, each playing a character equipped with a mask and headset. They enter the town; the houses, offices and streets, their boundaries laid out on the floor in tape with a few key furniture pieces in a largely bare town hall space. Through a combination of soundscape, pre-recorded dialogue and instructions the audience members play out the choreographed movement of the characters and the dark and sordid dealings of tthe town are revealed. Each character and audience member experiences a different perspective on the events as they unfurl through individualised audio tracks.
This show is Dogville meets Twin Peaks, a morally complex tale driven by an intricate, slightly convoluted comic melodrama. Revelling in the form, there is layer upon layer of scandalous sub plots in this surreal soap, played by the audience themselves.
A central creative feature of the work is the musical score combined with tightly crafted narration and audio play, which will be tailored to each characters perspective. The narration will allow the audience to build an understanding of their fellow characters, allowing them to become fully immersed in the world. The intimacy of this performance experience coupled with its rich sound score, engaging characters and enthralling plot, invites a new level of emotional engagement between the audience and the work.
