Chronic Insanity, a pioneering theatre collective from Nottingham, is redefining the boundaries of live performance with their groundbreaking new platform, FableMosh, an interactive digital theatre experience that empowers audiences to curate their viewing experience, putting control directly into their hands. FableMosh challenges the elements of traditional theatre making, from creation and execution to the actual performance and beyond. Accessible from anywhere in the world, the platform features six new shows releasing monthly between March and August this year, ranging from horror, comedy, spoken word, gig theatre and absurdism available in mediums of video, audio and VR recordings. The platform invites audiences to personalise their experience by casting actors of their choice from a group of eight who have recorded every role in each story. Through this immersive theatre experience Chronic Insanity pushes artistic innovation forward, ensuring that theatre remains an ever-evolving and inclusive space for creativity.
Chronic Insanity launched FableMosh with their debut performance, Descension, on 31 March, a spoken-word play by Lora Krasteva, inspired by the UK riots from last summer. Descension explores a haunting premise: what would happen if migrants in the UK disappeared. The performance is accompanied by an optional spatial soundscape which makes the experience evocative. During my first listen, I couldn’t resist exploring this interactive feature, switching between actors at different moments. Hearing the performance being told through different voices at different times, certainly added to the immersive experience, alongside the visually stimulating audio soundscape. Each perspective added new depth and dynamism to the storytelling, a truly customizable experience that felt tailored to me.
The next play coming on April 28th is Homunculus by Joe Strickland, Chronic Insanity’s artistic director. It is a gig-theatre, an absurdist nuclear war comedy about the lengths people will go to for online attention, offering another layer of inventive storytelling that the platform is quickly becoming known for.
Joe Strickland joined to talk more about this exciting venture.
The interactive feature sets this platform aside from others, what made you decide to take this approach?
We wanted to give people the opportunity to have more control over who was telling them the stories they were watching and listening to. While other interactive experiences give you control over the paths of the story that you can explore, they’re all still authored by the same people and don’t allow you to see yourself in that story if you don’t already happen to relate to the characters. The system with our FableMosh Originals allows you to cast your own show and choose which performer you want to perform in your version of the story. Also, if you want to switch it up halfway through, you can recast at the click of a button without disrupting the flow of the performance.
How is the interactive feature utilised in the production and distribution process, and what steps are involved in integrating it effectively?
We wanted to make sure that, when recording the productions, we put as little stress on the performers as possible so that they didn’t have to worry about fitting into a new way of working while also delivering their brilliant performances. However, this meant that we had to create a system that knew what point in the story each performer was at so that it could switch between them quickly and effectively, which took some more time to figure out. Fortunately, we did this successfully and I’m very happy with how our system works now and audiences are able to, without delay, choose and swap performers in our FableMosh Original shows.
What do you hope to achieve with FableMosh?
Everything we do at Chronic Insanity is done to encourage people to engage more with digital culture and to create spaces for artists and audiences to explore those necessary stories in our digitally infused day to day lives that can best or only be told via digital platforms. FableMosh is no exception and I hope that it allows audiences to engage with digital theatre made by the best emerging and established UK creative talent in a sustainable and accessible way regardless of people’s geography, disability, financial situation or technical literacy.
The next play coming to the platform, Homunculus, is directed by you, a comedy horror monologue about the lengths people will go for online attention.
Yep, Homunculus is written and directed by me, and it’s a show inspired by a lot of the influencer culture I was seeing on various platforms. However, its core storytelling is very much a classic tragedy, a story of someone being tempted by a chance encounter, getting in too deep, and doubling down rather than withdrawing to disastrous results. It’s the exact sort of story that works brilliantly for digital theatre, a classic theatrical narrative structure but filled with characters and content completely at home online. Add in the magic realism with the twists and turns, and how you can’t always be sure of what you’re seeing online, and you end up with a perfect fit for our platform.
How long have you been working on this and what was the inspiration behind it?
We’ve been working on some form of the idea of letting people cast their own productions since 2021, with our first show that allowed you to do this, a gig theatre play called 24, 23, 22. We then created a virtual reality demonstration of the first iteration of this system, called Fabula, in Autumn 2023 and then, when we got Creative Catalyst funding from Innovate UK last year, we had the funds to commission 6 playwrights, 8 performers, and a bunch of other creative team members to make not just a small trial of the idea or a product demo, but a full season of innovative and interactive new writing. Chronic Insanity runs the UK’s only dedicated digital theatre literary department, so we’re used to supporting playwrights in making their first digital shows, and we’ve been so happy to be able to continue to support new writing in the UK at a time when so many other institutions seem to be rolling back these supports for artists. Not only was our inspiration behind this project to create a digital theatre platform that was sustainable, accessible, affordable, and inclusive, and allowed for interactivity in a bold new way, but to try and carve out a little space for new writing when it’s needed now more than ever and under some of the least support it has had in recent years.
FableMosh has revolutionised theatre by making it more accessible through its innovative digital platform. This sustainable approach introduces individuals to the world of theatre in an engaging way, especially with its interactive features that appeal to newcomers. As Joe Strickland highlights during the interview, FableMosh stands out from other interactive platforms by giving users the power to shape the story themselves. Exploring its features reveals countless possibilities for story performances, ensuring that each experience is unique. Creative minds will delight in experimenting with the platform, gaining access to thought-provoking performances right at their fingertips. With new content released every month, there’s always something exciting to discover.
Interview by Rim Alkaiat
Featured Image of Joe Strickland by Kate Spencer
To book tickets for individual shows or subscribe to the platform visit: fablemosh.com
Listings information
31st March – Descension by Lora Krasteva
28th April – Homunculus by Joe Strickland
26th May – Gigs by Doug Deans
30th June – Cuckoo’s Corner by Lucy Foster
28th July – Turing, To You by Jamie Drew
25th August – The Roger Fischer Protocol by Jack Fairey
Crew:
Directing by Joe Strickland, Dramaturgy by Emily Holyoake, Sound Design by Robin Gallardo-Parsons, Produced by Lotty Holder
Cast:
Marilyn Ann Bird, Victor Itang, Jacob Kay, Jordan Laidley, Peyvand Sadeghian, Jamie Stewart, Laura Turner, Emily Webster
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