SCHEDULE
Saturday, February 25
- 6 pm to midnight Game night: play and/or watch (bar service)
- 7 to 8:30 pm Panel (french only): Video Games for Social Transformation (Facebook live broadcast)
At Monument-National
1182 Saint-Laurent, Montreal
Watch the Sun Until It Becomes a Square
Inspired by the LAN party concept, the National Theatre School of Canada presents a fun and intriguing evening of gaming at the Monument-National. Concocted by its Centre for Arts and Social Innovation, this evening of gaming is unlike anything we've seen before, as the public will be invited to experience games that are both empathy-building and focused on storytelling, ecology and social transformation.
Virtual reality, augmented reality, Montreal games and international games: there will be something for everyone! Add this playful event to your February 25 itinerary (at the heart of the Quartier des spectacles). You'll also have the chance to attend a panel discussion—and to have a drink with friends!
Don't miss the panel discussion on video games for social transformation as part of the programming for Watch the Sun Until It Becomes a Square.
The event's title is taken from Grapefruit: A Book of Instructions and Drawings by artist Yoko Ono and evokes an invitation to see, think and act differently.
INFORMATION
ARTWORKS AND GAMES
- Season: A Letter to the Future (Scavengers Studio, Montreal, Canada)
- Never Alone (Upper One Game, Alaska, USA)
- uranography (i-vi) (Rachel M. Thornton. New-Brunswick, Canada)
- KICKWORD (Mathilde Geromin, Montreal, Canada)
- Along the Rift (Collectif du CNAM-ENJMIN, France)
LINKS
- The amazing collection of Never Alone related videos
- Behind the scenes of Never Alone
- With the Season game cast: "I finally get to play someone that I want to see in a video game" - Russell Yuen
- KICKWORD reactions
Season: A Letter to the Future (Scavengers Studio, Montreal, Canada)
Leave home for the first time to collect memories before a mysterious cataclysm washes everything away. Ride, record, meet people, and unravel the strange world around you. Immerse yourself in the world of Season, a third-person meditative exploration game.
The video gameNever Alone (Upper One Games, Alaska, USA)
"We paired world class game makers with Alaska Native storytellers and elders to create a game which delves deeply into the traditional lore of the Iñupiat people to present an experience like no other."
The video game
Uranography (i-vi) (Rachel M. Thornton. New-Brunswick, Canada)
Animating a new proposition for the ordering of stars in the night sky, these works draw upon the history of astronomy, celestial cartography and cosmological representations of the cosmos. The collages and augmented reality videos draw attention to the myths represented by feminine characters, and the violence they are often victim to in mythology.
The video gameAlong the Rift
10-year-old Maya and her parents are hiking in the mountains, when suddenly she falls into a deep rift. Alone, she's trying to find a way out, with the distant help of her parents. Along the Rift is a narrative adventure game set to explore the coming of age of a young girl alongside her fears, imagination and feelings
The video game
KICKWORD (Lamathilde, Montreal, Canada)
KICKWORD is virtual reality (VR) game with phenomenological ambition. As much auditory and visual as interactive, it seeks to translate a sensory and intellectual experience of resilience in the face of traumas, insults and injunctions.
The video gameSaturday, February 25, 7pm
Can video games, in the manner of theatre, help develop well-being? Can they teach humans to feel empathy, to share, to create links, to take care of others and the environment?
In theatre as in video games, we create, we write, we direct, we set, we play, and we watch. Although some stereotypes remain, video games are increasingly considered an art form in their own right. As part of the Watch the Sun Until It Becomes a Square evening of gaming at Monument-National, NTS’s Centre for Arts and Social Innovation will host a panel discussion addressing the positive potential of accessibility, scenography and dramaturgy in video game creation. Video game creators, an artist, a director and video game casting expert, and a dramaturgy researcher will share their perspectives on the strategies and emotions at work in the creative experience of video games as a vehicle for well-being.
Panelists: Julie-Michèle Morin, Sébastien Berton, Dahlia Jiwan, Pamela Fillion and lamathilde
Watch the Sun Until It Becomes a Square / Regardez le soleil jusqu'à ce qu'il devienne un carré and its panel are organized by the Centre for Arts and Social Innovation* of the National Theatre School of Canada in collaboration with Montréal en lumière, as part of La Nuit blanche.
Curated by Erika Kierulf and Marie Samuel Levasseur, *CASI
Subscribe to our Newsletter
Subscribe to our newsletter and learn more about our professional programs, receive invitations to our student shows, discover the School, our residencies...
Want to apply to the School?
Just click here!