Innovative online theatrical experiences will be available online this autumn in a new season of work presented by Oxford Playhouse. Audiences can expect digital world premieres, immersive listening event and real-time Zoom experiments. Among the first will be Telephone on October 15, a live storytelling performance. Bringing together a playing audience of strangers, this gently interactive show is different every time. Written and performed by Tassos Stevens, Telephone weaves together stories and games about connection across all kinds of distance, through a short and mostly true history of telecommunications. Escape Zoom takes place on Saturday October 17. The production invites audiences into an online world of secret passages, hidden codes and B-movie storylines. With fellow players, participants can solve puzzles and visit strange worlds. Running from October 19 to 25, Small Hours probes the mysteries of human circadian rhythm, the daily pattern of wakefulness and sleep, and how this can be either disrupted or adjusted. Join this journey of self-exploration and see where it might lead you. Love Letters Straight From Your Heart promises a completely digital, wholly personal and wonderfully live experience on October 22 and 23. Each evening will be a unique experience to its audience, featuring your song dedications and the stories attached to them, declarations of love, past and present. Do You Love Me Yet? is a comical, touching, live experiment into human intimacy, taking place on November 2, 4 and 7. Two actors meet for the first time on Zoom, unknown to each other and unrehearsed. They are invited to be brave, be spontaneous and be themselves. And The House Never Wins invites audiences to play what seems to be a simple game of blackjack in the casino. But there’s a catch. While trying to pit your luck against the dealer, you also must keep The House alive. Interacting through gameplay on Zoom, and with WhatsApp pinging you visual messages, surveys and puzzles, can you work together to keep The House afloat, or will the lure of a real cash prize be too much to resist? The experience, which explores climate crisis, self-isolation and gambling with the planet’s future. takes place on November 10 and 11. Visit oxfordplayhouse.com to book and for more details about these and other productions taking place in the coming weeks.
