opera – a future game

opera – a future game

A post-(operational)-apocalyptic video game essay

For one weekend, we will be showing the interactive installation opera - a future game by playwright Thomas Köck and composer Eloain Lovis Hübner at Burg Hülshoff. Direction, game design and animation are provided by Michael von zur Mühlen. In the project, the artists explore new forms of presentation in the genre of music theatre. At the same time, the aim is to test innovative interactions with the audience - from contemplation to participation, from collective experience to isolation as a politically explosive topic of our present. And all this in a dystopian-futuristic setting and using a narrative style that draws on current popular film and gaming culture.

After a catastrophe, a choir finds itself in a desolate cultural landscape. In conversation with themselves and a cyborg, hauntings arise, individual and collective memories of real and longed-for events. The users wander through this landscape, which tells of the disappearance of the present. Meanwhile, viewers in the room can follow the events, comment on them and intervene.

Music by Eloain Lovis Hübner
Texts by Thomas Köck
Game design, direction and animation: Michael v. zur Mühlen
Space and set design: Martin Miotk
Camera and editing: Stefan Bischoff
3D optimisation and programming: Hannes Stolle
With visuals and sound by Michael Taylor, Robert Sellier, Michael Zehe, Miriam Knackstedt, Philine Götz, Damian Rebgetz, Halle Opera Choir, Halle Opera Children's and Youth Choir, Halle State Orchestra.
Musical direction: Michael Wendeberg
Sound engineer: Michael Leverkus
based on the opera opera opera! revenants&revolutions