Theatre company invites you to pick a card and get a story in unique Edinburgh Fringe show

Chronic Insanity’s Nat Henderson and Joe Strickland

That was the intention of Nottingham-based theatre company Chronic Insanity who were due to perform 52 Souls at this year’s festival. Determined the show must go on, they’ve taken the production online, where it is sure to prove a unique piece of interactive theatre.

Using a deck of cards, over the course of an hour audience members will draw cards one by one and tell their computer what cards they’ve picked. Each card delivers a short performance, one per playing card, each from a different performer. The structure places the means of continuing a performance in the hands of the audiences and examines how we react when faced with the knowledge that time is running out when we still have more to do.

Described as a ‘self-driven, randomly generated variety show’, 52 Souls confronts our attitudes to death, a universal truth that instils in many both a morbid curiosity and instinctive reluctance to address. Each of the 52 pieces explore death and mortality and vary from theatre to poetry, magic to music as well as puppetry and other performance styles.

The play is the final work in the Company’s 12 shows in 12 months project - the company were getting ready to make their Fringe debut when Covid-19 struck forcing cast and creatives to adapt their approach to storytelling.

Chronic Insanity’s Nat Henderson and Joe Strickland say, “We always try and push the boundaries of live performance and theatre and being faced with the challenge of making digital work is something we are very happy to rise to. We’re so excited to be able to continue working with all of our freelance artists, start building relationships with new creatives from a wide array of backgrounds, and show everyone something approaching the complete breadth of what digital theatre can be. These aren’t just filmed or streamed live productions, this is digital theatre, about digital stories, made for digital platforms and communities. We hope you enjoy the shows.”

Henderson and Strickland set up Chronic Insanity to pursue their Internet in challenging every element of theatre, from the inception of an idea to after the final performance. To this end, the company use sustainable theatre making practices to record all performances in multiple digital formats.

52 Souls is released on 24 August and will be available to watch for one week.

52 Souls should be compatible with and viewable on any device with Internet access - computer, tablet, phone - with no specific tech requirements.

Tickets costing £10 (£8/£5) are available form https://www.tickettailor.com/events/chronicinsanity

For more details go to www.chronicinsanity.wixsite.com/12in12

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