2Up: Second Player. Photo credit Mostly Water Theatre
2Up: Second Player by Mostly Water Theatre
August 12, 14, 17, 19 – 21 at Venue #26: Garneau Theatre
An interview with Trent Wilkie.
Describe your show in five words.
The gamification of everyday life.
Okay, now that we’re intrigued… what’s the longer description?
It’s an eclectic mix of video, stage and song all under the guise of games and gaming. From board games to augmented reality, we turn the gaming world on it’s ear.
It’s been 5 years since Mostly Water Theatre was at the Edmonton Fringe – why did you want to come back to the festival?
David Cheoros of the Metro Cinema Society approached Mosly Water about doing a Fringe show. Myself, Matt Stanton and Jason Ludwig had a few meetings to see it it was feasible. Matt and I have families now so things have changed, but when Jason agreed we knew we could put something together that would work.
“2Up: Second Player explores gamification of life” – where did Mostly Water draw inspiration from to create this show?
We see gaming as a metaphor, and with that said, we used actual games and the like to just try to encapsulate humourous scenarios. Be it a grandfather who feigns worry over his grandson’s extensive gaming to get him out of the house so he can play, or if it is taking Super Mario Bros and re-imagining them as Super Marionettes, gaming just seems to be a gateway drug to a large spectrum of funny things.
2Up: Second Player blends sketch, music, animation, video and marionettes. How do all these elements work together in the show and why incorporate these different art forms into the show?
Sketch is a wonderful thing. It doesn’t just have to be talking heads on a stage. It can be anything really. Thus the word sketch. Mostly Water has a vast degree of tastes when it comes to art. We enjoy music and movies. We enjoy animation. We enjoy anything that, well, we enjoy. We try to translate that into our shows. Also, people get bored easily. We try to make it easy for them to pay attention by having many types of media.
Anything else you want audiences to know about the show?
It’s very fun. Plain and simple. Some of it is thoughtful, other parts go straight for the joke. It has a bit of everything for everyone.
The 35th Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival is August 11 – 21. Get your tickets at tickets.fringetheatre.ca.