A3! — Backstage Edition: An attempt
What would A3! look like if it focused on the backstage crew instead?
Context: This essay uses an academic research paper format because… yay research? It’s not the first time I clowned around with this format, but this essay’s slightly (read: a lot) more formal than that one. I also used a few wireframes (made with Invision) to illustrate the app’s layout, since there’s no way I’ll actually be able to code this game. Something else to note is how this technical theatre game has a more general context than Veludo Way, but you can always imagine that it’s the demon coach scolding you for missing a cue. Places everyone, it’s showtime~
Technical Theatre Simulation Game: Shining a Light on the Backstage World
While most theatre-goers are familiar with dazzling performances by talented actors, they might not realize how much work goes behind the scenes to run the show successfully. Technical theatre refers to all aspects of a theatre production that support the performers, such as lights, sets, sounds, stage management, costumes and set design (Held, 2021). Lack of awareness about technical theatre due to its perceived complexity and unglamorous reputation compared to performers results in a lack of appreciation for the intricacies of backstage life. Additionally, not many academic studies focus on theatrical productions, let alone comprehensive examinations of backstage culture. Therefore, there is a gap in technical theatre education and awareness, especially regarding social dynamics backstage (Held, 2021). This essay proposes a simulation game to teach users about backstage culture in an accessible, immersive and nuanced manner. The game interface aims to increase appreciation of backstage culture, especially in this pandemic when many theatres shut their doors due to social distancing measures and reduced technical theatre exposure opportunities (Nidweski, 2021).
What is Technical Theatre?
The proposed game will emulate the technical and social aspects of technical theatre. As Nidweski (2021) showed in her interviews with female technical theatre workers, there is much internal variation in working culture between venues. Technicians have to grapple with the quirks of every production venue, while creative roles like costume designers must adapt to the requirements of every production. Backstage workers must stay up to date with the latest equipment, especially as digital consoles become ubiquitous (Nidweski, 2021). However, the technical theatre industry has distinctive structures which craft the backstage identity (Taylor, 2020). For instance, understanding theatre jargon is essential for all backstage workers. The backstage crew’s all-black uniforms help to blend into the dark backstage area during performances and are visually distinctive (Taylor, 2020). Most productions have a myriad of standard operating procedures which require precise movements and constant communication through headsets. These workflows help to maximize efficiency by ensuring that the backstage crew works as a cohesive whole. Hence, the technical aspect of backstage work features unified structures with internal variation between individual productions.
The pursuit of invisible excellence in technical theatre has formed distinct social dynamics in backstage culture. Taylor (2020) examined the social hierarchies present in backstage crews and determined that developing an “us versus them” mentality could cause friction between departments and communication breakdowns. Shared job experiences can quickly bond workers in the same department, allowing them to trust each other execute excellent teamwork during shows. However, the strong bond can cause the group to distrust others who do not come from similar backgrounds, believing that the newcomers cannot understand the inner workings of the existing group. This distrust strengthens when traditionally technical and conventionally creative groups interact, as technical groups do not believe that creatives should tell them what to do, while creatives view technical workers as lower in the backstage hierarchy since they are unseen during performances. However, border cases that blur the line between creative and technical fields do exist. Lighting designers, for instance, maybe in charge of the creative aspects of theatrical lighting, but they must be equally well-versed in handling lighting equipment (Nidweski, 2021). Ultimately, backstage workers must take inspiration from these boundary-blurring roles, learn to look past their differences and remember their common goal to help the show go on.
Technical theatre is not immune to socio-cultural factors which influence other parts of society. As a historically male-dominated industry, women have experienced casual and systemic discrimination over the years that persists today (Nidweski, 2021). Nidweski observed that her interviewees remembered working with many female theatre technicians in school-level productions but found themselves in largely male-dominated professional theatre crews, perhaps due to perceptions of technical theatre jobs as masculine in nature. Interest in the technical theatre profession could be affected by cultural views regarding backstage work as labor-intensive and less reputable than office jobs. High equipment costs and complicated logistics make it difficult for someone to be self-taught in technical theatre, making training opportunities through theatre organizations indispensable. Many of the most experienced youth crew members attribute their skills to training from large churches, where they assist worship performances by learning how to use the latest sound and lighting systems. Not all youths have access to the elaborate setups and training opportunities from churches, creating a disparity in opportunity for those who wish to learn technical theatre at an early age and potentially influencing the composition of backstage theatre crews. Therefore, the social aspects of technical theatre provide fertile ground for exploration and examination.
The mobile game proposed by this project aims to educate youths about technical theatre scenes in their own countries. A mobile game interface was chosen for its familiarity with the primary audience as well as its potential for an immersive and accessible user experience. Youths were chosen as the target audience as they might have more time and avenues to experience technical theatre compared to busier working adults (Held, 2021). Game localization could increase interest since players might be familiar with venues in the game. Players adopt the role of workers from various technical theatre departments for each level, which simulates the technical and social aspects of a particular theatrical production. Completing levels would unlock informative “Story” rewards that explore technical theatre in greater detail. The game takes inspiration from role-playing games (RPGs), where players assume the role of characters in the game’s world and interact according to their characters’ skill sets. Visual novel elements where player choices can affect the story’s ending are also adopted. The blend of RPG and visual novel gameplay accurately simulates social situations that occur backstage since the responses of other characters are depend on the player’s role and actions. Additionally, gamification serves as a way to motivate the player to keep learning in the immersive game environment.
Use Case
The use case of a player, Izumi, who wishes to learn more about how professional lighting designers work will help demonstrate the features of the game interface and how it approaches the topic of technical theatre in a nuanced manner. This particular use case is a goal that would be common to many players and requires the use of many of the game’s features. Izumi’s user task is to complete a “Professional” difficulty game level as a “Lighting Designer” for the “Phantom of the Opera” theatrical production. The task assumes that Izumi has made enough progress to unlock the “Professional” difficulty levels, meaning that she is not a complete novice at the game. Therefore, the tutorial level’s wireframes would not be shown. Figure 1 shows the user flow diagram for completing a game level. To stay faithful to technical theatre’s emphasis on excellence and communication, it is possible to fail a level by either poorly performing in the technical component of the level or by initiating a communication breakdown by escalating conflicts until resolving is not possible. Failing a level means that the player has to replay it, with no rewards earned for the failed attempt.
When Izumi opens the game, the first page she sees is the home page in Figure 2. The Home Page shows useful information and a “To-Do List” which nudges her to complete certain tasks to facilitate game progress and earn rewards. The navigation bar at the bottom enables easy access to other parts of the game.
Izumi has not attempted any Professional difficulty levels yet, hence there is a task in the To-Do List (“Make your professional debut!”) that encourages her to do so. The exclamation mark next to the Productions tab indicates that there are newly unlocked levels to play. Therefore in this case, either tapping the Productions tab in the navigation bar or the “Go!” button next to the task in the To-Do List would bring Izumi to the Productions page in Figure 3.
The productions page shows the game’s diverse selection of game levels, which are represented by their publicity poster pictures and are sorted in alphabetical order. The productions found in the game range from small-scale plays to large-scale musicals, including both classical and modern plays. This variety is essential as it helps to convey how technical theatre has evolved historically, from shows which barely require any technical equipment to shows with extensive digital props. Izumi can search for the productions by name using the search bar or browse through the list using the left and right arrows. She should tap on the poster that has the caption “Phantom of the Opera” to navigate to its “Select Level” page, shown in Figure 4.
The “Select Level” page provides a short introduction of the production with links to learn more about its history. Each production has three difficulty levels, “School”, “Community” and “Professional”. Each level is set in a specific theatre, with some venues based on actual theatres in the player’s home country. Every theatre has different equipment layouts and working styles, showing the internal variation present even in one country’s technical theatre industry. Some venues repeat, especially at the Professional difficulties, to simulate how there are fewer professional-level theatre facilities than simple school theatres. As the player clears levels, they would experience how technical theatre workers gain mastery from experiences. With repeated plays, non-playable characters (NPCs) from each venue would become friendlier since they recognize the player as part of the crew’s “in-group” (Taylor, 2020). Special rewards correspond to the number of stars earned per level, with three indicating 100% completion. Izumi is expected to select the “Professional” level, which is marked as a “Debut Production” since she has not attempted it, navigating her to the “Select Character” page in Figure 5.
Each production will have a few characters from all walks of life to choose from, allowing the player to experience as many social perspectives as possible. Some characters cannot appear in venues they are unassociated with, such as churches at the Community level. The characters available to play for a level are also dependent on the production venue since different crews might be regulars in specific places. Full character profiles are viewed by selecting the mini-profiles shown in Figure 5, and the arrows on the left and right of the screen are used as navigation. For the user task, Izumi should pick the character named “Ben”, since he is a Lighting Designer, and select “Start Show” to begin the level.
Figure 6 shows the technical aspect of a typical game level, which consists of the Planning, Rehearsal and Live Show stages to simulate the workflow of a theatrical production. The exact tasks for each level will depend on the player’s chosen role. For the Planning stage, Izumi needs to complete a lighting plot by adding lights to the virtual lighting plot on the screen. The “Stage Preview” window shows how the lights would look like from the theatre’s lighting booth, replicating what actual technicians would see during shows. Figure 6 shows how to add a spotlight to the plan before submission by tapping the “Add Light” button and specifying the light type, color and position. All sections of the game screen can be expanded to a full-screen view by double-tapping for easier viewing. Once Izumi is satisfied with her plot, she should click the “Submit” button to receive a “Report Card” from the Stage Manager (SM). She can choose to redraw the plan at a cost of a few points or continue with her current performance rating. To reflect internal variation in performance expectations, the point penalty and scoring criteria would increase with difficulty level.
The second stage simulates a technical rehearsal before the actual performance in the third stage. The interface in these stages retains the Stage Preview, replacing the lighting plot from before with a virtual mixer and the task list with a cue sheet. The virtual mixer is a streamlined version of actual equipment to accommodate small mobile screens. Production lengths last for a few minutes instead of a few hours like typical productions to maintain player interest. As the show progresses, Izumi is expected to cue in the correct light effect by using the mixer at the right time according to the cue sheet. She can scroll down to prepare for future cues and scroll up from the current cue to view their performance for previous cues. A tick indicates a successful cue while a cross indicates a missed cue. To simulate stressful showtime conditions (Nidweski, 2021), each missed cue will lose a life, represented by hearts, for the player. If Izumi runs out of hearts before the end of a show, the show will end prematurely and be deemed as a failure. Players would be allowed to redo a failed rehearsal at the cost of a few points, but they will be instantly sent to the “Level Failed” page if they fail a Live Show, demonstrating the severe consequences of messing up an actual show. At the Professional difficulty level, bad rehearsals risk failing the level instantly as the stakes are higher. Professional difficulty levels also have fewer lives and fewer error allowances. The player can hear communication lines from the SM and NPCs in the game throughout the level, simulating headset communication during an actual show. The actual tone and content of the lines would depend on the player’s character’s relationships with the other characters.
The social aspect primarily appears in the form of visual novel-style dialogues between the player’s characters and other characters. Figure 7 shows the ending of a successful production of Phantom of the Opera, where Izumi’s character, Ben, is asked by the SM to exchange contacts. Nidweski (2021) established that networking is essential for technical theatre workers, especially women, to discover job opportunities and improve their professional standing. Therefore, picking the option to respond to the SM’s request with “Of course!” would earn the SM’s contact as a bonus reward while the other option results in no reward. The “Wrap-up” section could have unpleasant situations such as the one shown in Figure 7.1, where the player needs to respond to mean comments about another colleague. NPC dialogue and hostility is influenced by the player’s character’s metrics, determining the kinds of discrimination the character might witness or even be subjected to.
After completing the post-show conversations, Izumi should see the “Level Complete” page in Figure 7, which marks her task as complete. Each star earned in the level unlocks a new Story that deep-dives into an aspect of technical theatre. Figure 7.2 shows a story selection page where players can read their unlocked stories. The story selection page also includes a short introduction to the role in concern and the conditions to unlock currently locked stories.
Occasionally, Izumi may encounter randomly occurring “Conflict Minigames”, which simulate unexpected happenings during each production. The player’s ability to resolve them affects the level’s score and the ability for the show to go on. Figure 8 shows the potential outcomes of a Conflict during Part 1 of Izumi’s gameplay. Upon the Conflict’s random appearance, Izumi is immediately directed to the Conflict Scenario. The minigame must be completed before normal gameplay can resume. Figure 8 shows a minor conflict between the Costume and Lighting departments. The conflict scenario could be polite or hostile, depending on the player’s character and historical interactions with their colleagues. Figure 8’s hostile dialogue prompt replicates the friction between creative and technical departments examined by Taylor (2020) by showing the Costume Designer’s assumption that technicians have no awareness of creative factors. Diplomacy and levelheadedness throughout the conflict (subsequent dialogues not pictured in Figure 8) is rewarded by the “Conflict Resolved” screen, which lists Izumi’s bonus points and modified tasks if any. Conversely, being rude and uncooperative escalates the conflict, resulting in point penalties. Figure 8 also shows how the conflict delayed the production’s progress by having an unhappy SM issue a tight time limit for completing the current stage. Severe Conflicts would result in instant level failure as the character is removed from the production crew. Conflicts happen more often in Professional-difficulty levels and have harsher penalties for escalation, simulating the higher stakes and unpredictability of large-scale productions.
Limitations and Conclusion
While the game interface makes a concerted effort to accurately portray the complexity and nuances of technical theatre, the fact remains that the game needs to be accessible and enjoyable to players. Some complexity must be sacrificed in terms of faithfulness to actual technical equipment as well as the variety of conversation options available to maintain playability. The latter constraint is an arguably significant limitation as it might make some interactions seem less authentic than user-provided input. However, it is nearly impossible to implement an infinite number of conversation options on top of the technical simulations. While the learning curve of the game replicates the confusing experiences of those new to technical theatre training (Nidweski, 2021), it might deter some players from wanting to learn more by playing. Helpful guides and hints throughout the game for newer players help to ease this learning curve. Glossaries for common technical theatre jargon and equipment tutorials would also help players who are unused to them.
In conclusion, this essay explored the use of a mobile game interface to immerse players into the world of technical theatre. The mix of RPG and visual novel elements would faithfully convey both the technical aspects and complex social dynamics of technical theatre to players in a fun and accessible way. Future steps for the game would be to flesh out details for game levels involving other technical theatre roles, simulate a wider variety of social situations and introduce more localized content like locally produced plays. The game could be introduced to drama curriculums in schools as enrichment content. Hence, the proposed immersive technical theatre simulation game has many applications for improving technical theatre awareness in youths.
References
Held, K. (2021). Quiet in the Wings: A Narrative Exploration of High School Students’ Experience With Technical Theatre. Retrieved 14 November 2021, from https://www.proquest.com/openview/40acc1e291aeb6efca1b527d9fddc1ef/1.
Nidweski, V. (2021). Through the Stage Door, a Spotlight on ‘Backstage’ Work: Women Designers and Stagehands in Theatrical Production. Women’s History Theses, 57. Retrieved 14 November 2021, from https://digitalcommons.slc.edu/womenshistory_etd/57.
Taylor, M. (2020). Belonging backstage: ‘us’ and ‘them’ in production. Currents Journal, (1). Retrieved 14 November 2021, from https://currentsjournal.net/Belonging-Backstage.
