Happy Hour

Spooky Action Theater and the Goethe-Institut Washington bring the interactive performance event Happy Hour by the emerging German theater company machina eX to Washington May 14 - June 5, 2016. Blending video games, live theater, and interactive installation, this English-language premiere of Happy Hour brings machina eX’s signature high-quality technology to Spooky Action Theater’s versatile and imaginative playing space. Designed for no more than 20 audience members at a time, this immersive experience creates an active exchange among the players (audience), and between the audience and the actors - the human avatars - in the other room.

Happy Hour, a hilarious and thought-provoking immersive theater performance, pits two small teams of audience members against one another in a race to solve a series of puzzles. Drinks in hand, the teams must help their human avatars escape the clutches of the evil mastermind holding them captive. A diabolical bartender gives each team the tools they need to communicate in this theatrical twist on the familiar Room Escape video game. As the avatars’ puzzles become increasingly complex, will either team find the keys, unlock the doors, and beat the clock to save the stranger they have been guiding on the other side of the screen?
 
Co-Directors: Yves Regenass (machina eX) & Gillian Drake (Spooky Action Theater)
US Scenic Design: Kim Sammis
US Technology Direction and Lighting Design: Gordon Nimmo-Smith
US Costume Design: Lynn Sharp Spears
US SoundDesign: Matias Prince
US Adaptation, Game and Interaction Design: Jan Philip Steimel & Lasse Marburg (machina eX)
US Stage Manager: Becky Reed
US Technical Director/Software Operator: Charles Cobb
US Props: Becky Mezzanotte, Oliver Ann Hinson, & Elizabeth Long
Software Operator: Justin Herman
Audio/Visual Advisor: Natalie Kinsaul
​Deck Crew: Patrick Derrickson
Original Production, Artistic Direction and Game Design: machina eX and Gessnerallee Zurich, at which Happy Hour premiered.
 
”Why did we just do that?”, a girl in my group asks after we tried different combinations of commands in a collective power frenzy and forced the performer ... to do absurd and sometimes repetitive operations just like a puppet on a string. “Because it is fun,” another girl answers. - Andreas Tobler, Tagesanzeiger Zürich
 
“In a previously unseen way the group mixes two worlds which so far seemed incompatible. And they accomplish it with flying colors” - Jan Graber for 20 Minuten
 
PRODUCING PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS
machina eX
machina eX is a company of media and theatre artists from Germany designing computer games in real life environments. Blending theater performance with the power of digital gaming principles, machina eX enchants performers and players alike and turns theatrical stages into fantastic interactive worlds. Audiences plunge into the world of the game and find themselves in the midst of a story that they must guide to its conclusion. machina eX is returning to DC following a successful production of the award-winning 15’000 Gray at the 2014 Zeitgeist Festival. http://machinaex.de
 
Spooky Action Theater
Located in a historic church along Washington, DC’s U Street corridor, Spooky Action Theater (SAT) is a dynamic, young theater company that has been recharging the audience's imaginative, intuitive, emotional core by linking artists & audience in a collaborative enterprise. www.spookyaction.org
           
Goethe-Institut Washington
The Goethe-Institut Washington, the German cultural center, organizes and supports cultural events that present German culture abroad and that further the transatlantic dialogue regarding today’s challenging questions. www.goethe.de/washington
 
Made possible with additional support from the German Federal Foreign Office and Friends of the Goethe-Institut Washington         
                                                                                                                       
DATES
Preview Performances May 12-13 PWYC at the door
Opening Night Saturday, May 14 at 7:00pm & 9:00pm         
Thursdays & Fridays: 7:00pm & 9:00pm
Saturdays: 7:00pm & 9:00pm
Sundays: 2:30pm & 4:30pm
Performances run through June 5, 2016
 
LOCATION
Spooky Action Theater, 1810 16th St. NW, Washington, DC (Metro: Dupont Circle or U Street)
                                                                                                                       
TICKET SALES
Please visit Spooky Action Theater’s website for ticket purchases.
All tickets are general admission. Our bar and gaming room seats 20 audience members per performance.  The two gaming tables can each seat 10 patrons.
GROUP SALES: This interactive event will team up audience members with their fellow patrons. Groups of friends who wish to play together may contact the Box Office directly at info@spookyaction.org or (202) 248-0301 for group sales information and pricing.
 
PRESS CONTACT
Norma Broadwater, Goethe-Institut                            Roberta Alves, Spooky Action Theater
202-847-4707                                                                         202-352-5623
nbroadwater@washington.goethe.org                       roalves@spookyaction.org