When We Grow Up hasn’t always been the interactive theatre experience we know it as today. It started out as a single idea. A conversation amongst friends sparked an interest into delving deeper and creating a rich, vibrant world with ridiculous characters and situations. There were princesses and priests, psychologists and circus performers, and a crazy old miner who passed out every time he tried to go to work. People have come and go from the start of the process to now. But some have seen it through since its initial inception.
Trevor Scott has more on that:
I began working on When We Grow Up as co-writer and idea guy. Ryan Barker, Will Jennings, and I had formed a script after numerous meetings and writing sessions around last year. After the initial reading of the script, the project began to take a turn into something much more immersive. With a massive reworking, we decided to develop When We Grow Up into an immersive and interactive game. With the new script and concept, roles on the project began to change. Once a writer for the piece, I am now one of the actors and a member of the publicity team. Having an opportunity to act in an interactive piece is perfect, since it allows me to flex my improvisational acting skills. Improv has always been my favorite aspect of acting.
We kept many things from the original concept and early versions of the script, but it is fascinating as a developer of more than a year to go back and look at the old scripts and content. The project has evolved in so many ways. After the opening debut, I wonder how we will see the show evolve in its own way, whether it be newer iterations of the show or something else entirely.
The show actually started out as a full script, no improv necessary. It starred a group of people trying to make sense of the post-apocalyptic dystopian future they found themselves in. What things were kept from the original script? You’ll have to come see the show to find out!
Among those who joined in a later time, Ryan Barker has thoughts to share as well:
I came onto the project about a year and half ago in the early part of 2014. The ideas were already there, so I hopped in to help develop them. I distinctly remember having sessions with Trevor and Will where we discussed what the world was and what the “rules” were of this society we had created. A lot of those rules have stuck from Day 1, but the places and the people have changed. We each took characters we created and wrote a chunk of the story, with Will filling in as needed to flesh out the story and give it a singular voice.
After the first reading of the full script, we decided that it couldn’t live on in its current state. It needed something more. This world was full of possibilities and we were only scratching the surface in the initial iteration. That’s when the idea of interactivity came into play. We immediately latched onto it, aiming for a full sensory experience that theatergoers would truly enjoy and take home more than just a program.
We’re thrilled at how things have turned out and we’re hoping you are too. The cast is gearing up for an intense time of rehearsal in order to bring you the best possible experience. Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more thoughts from the cast and collaborators!
CPT Broadcast 