FutureMate

FutureMate
Created by Gyda Arber, Brian Fountain, David Gochfeld, and Allen Hahn
Produced by The Brick Theater

Nominations: Gyda Arber, Brian Fountain, David Gouchfeld and Allen Hahn are nominated for Outstanding Innovative Design for Phone and Text Design; and FutureMate is nominated for Outstanding Performance Art Production



About this Production
Set in a future devastated by “The Cataclysm,” which makes finding a fertile mate more challenging than ever, FutureMate will help audience members locate that special someone (free of the Nightwalker mutation, of course). Come see all the benefits that await you while doing your part to rebuild our great nation. An immersive experience that combines film, theater, and web-based storytelling, FutureMate is a wickedly funny satire about life, love, and the modern surveillance state that should not be missed!

FutureMate was the winner of StoryHack Beta, StoryCode’s first story-centric hackathon hosted at the Film Society of Lincoln Center. The full experience premiered at The Brick in Williamsburg, Brooklyn in 2013. In addition to the theatrical experience, the FutureMate story world spans multiple platforms that include: futuremate.us (a government-run dating site); a two-minute commercial for the FutureMate system, gn0s1s.net (an anti-government manifesto); a guerilla-style anti-government print campaign; ‘in-world’ Twitter feeds; as well as a phone-based speed-dating experience to pair audience members with one another.

Gyda Arber and Brian Fountain talk about creating this truly innovative and interactive theatrical experience.

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What attracted you to this project?

Gyda: FutureMate was developed as part of the StoryCode/Film Society of Lincoln Center StoryHack in March of 2012. We did a 15-minute version of the piece there, and won(!!) which was very exciting. From there, a few of the members of our team really wanted to continue with the piece, so we expanded it to a full-length work.

Brian: It was a fun way to explore the idea of post-apocalyptic dating.

What was your favorite part of working on this production?

Brian: Watching the audience slowly discover the world of FutureMate through small details like: a restructured government, a new national anthem and the existence of Nightwalkers.

  

What was the most challenging part of working on this production?

Brian: Multi-platform shows with audience participation can be tough for theatre-goers to wrap their head around. We worked hard to acclimate attendees slowly.

What is the craziest part of this production?

Brian: We ask audience members to give us a DNA swab when they arrive. As you can imagine, it's lead to some pretty varied responses.

What did you want the audience to come away with after watching your production?

Gyda: The theme of a surveillance-state runs throughout the piece, from the opening DNA swabs to the recorded calls. Something to be aware of with the NSA and our phone companies tracking everything these days!