{"id":1407,"date":"2009-05-29T07:00:35","date_gmt":"2009-05-29T05:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/leapfrog.nl\/blog\/?p=1407"},"modified":"2026-09-07T10:29:42","modified_gmt":"2026-09-07T08:29:42","slug":"announcing-a-hybrid-game-opera-for-monster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/leapfrog.nl\/blog\/archives\/2009\/05\/29\/announcing-a-hybrid-game-opera-for-monster\/","title":{"rendered":"Announcing a hybrid game opera for Monster"},"content":{"rendered":"

I never thought I would make an opera. But now I have. <\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

In a few weeks time the above market square in the town of Monster will be transformed into an arena where fighters duel each other using their pet monsters. If this sounds familiar<\/a>, it is no coincidence<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mega Monster Battle Arena<\/strong> is one of 11 operas produced by Dario Fo<\/a> to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the Westland<\/a> municipality. Dario Fo specialize in creating music theatre in close collaboration with the local community. They asked composer Dani\u00ebl Hamburger<\/a> to create the opera for Monster. The brief was to do \u2018something\u2019 with the town\u2019s curious name, and to make it a production that would appeal to youth by referencing games culture.1<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

Dani\u00ebl in turn approached me, since he had little affinity for games, and wanted the piece to not only be about<\/em> games, but to be a game itself. So that\u2019s what I helped do. By turning the game design principle of embedded narrative<\/a> inside-out, we\u2019ve managed to create a structure in which we can both tell a story using a script, and have performers improvise using game rules. Those rules I designed as a proper game. I could give you those rules and you would be able to play it yourself.<\/p>\n

So there will be fights, and they\u2019ll not<\/em> be scripted. You won\u2019t know beforehand who will win, and neither will we. There will also be a story, about a heroine facing off with a bad guy, in the best game and martial arts film<\/a> tradition. Sieger M.G.<\/a> was our third man, the piece\u2019s writer. A rapper turned poet with a life-long games addiction, there could be no better fit.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s probably most exciting to me is that on top of the improvisational choreography of the duels, a live band will use a rule set of their own, composed by Dani\u00ebl, that takes the game as it unfolds as its input to improvise. How\u2019s that for adaptive music?2<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

It might all go horribly wrong, or it might become a wonderful spectacle. If you are like me and would like to find out which it will be, head to Monster for one of the shows. They\u2019re scheduled for:<\/p>\n