The Big Game

The Big Game is a gigantic, fun interactive performance and play space for families. The Big Game takes the nature of interactive performance and play into a new realm, enclosing the participants in a gigantic visual, physical environment.  Kids participate as pieces in a huge board game, rolling enormous dice, stepping on game tiles and meeting larger-than-life characters that take them from start to finish. Each player faces an interactive terrain of sculptures, puppets, tasks, hazards and rewards, guided by Game Masters and fuelled by music; they strive to reach the finish first. 

There are two ways to experience The Big Game:
-     As a beautiful and engaging play space: children and adults can play the game with their own dice and their own teams. guided and helped along the way by Gatekeepers. In this form The Big Game is an adventure in which children can totally immerse themselves, making up the rules and their roles as they play.
-    As a performance it becomes a play-off, with children as the tokens and the audience as cheer squad. Live music underscores the action as the story unfolds of the Princess and her bullying father – Volcano King.  The Big Game combines sport and art to invoke the kind of passion and spectator participation rarely seen in the theatre.

The Big Game has been made in collaboration with children from the Carlton high rise commission flats, drawing on their interpretations of the collection at the National Gallery of Victoria and on their own stories and cultural influences.

The Big Game premiered at the Melbourne International Arts Festival in October 2008 with seasons at the Meat Market and the National Gallery of Victoria. The Big Game then toured to Perth as part of the AWESOME Festival and in May 2009 had its international premiere at the Singapore Arts Festival.

The Big Game is suitable for children aged 5 - 12

MEDIA

Interview with director, Sue Giles, on 774 ABC Conversation Hour 23 September 2008 discussing The Big Game

> download MP3 - 6MB

Read an interview with former Executive Producer Simon Abrahams which gives an overview of what to expect with The Big Game and how it was created.

> view ArtZine interview