Can you first introduce yourself to the reader?
My name is Eddie Kim. I'm a teacher at the Pierrepont School in Westport, CT. I'm also the artistic director of EK Theater, a video game puppetry troupe that I started in 2007. Our mission is to re-tell classical stories through live acts of video game puppetry.
My pieces have been performed at venues such as HERE Arts Center in SoHo, the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, MA, and the Brick Theater in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. We have received positive reviews from Kotaku and MTV, and Ars Technica made a short feature video about us in January. I also give workshops at festivals and schools. In July of this year, we went to Tainan City, Taiwan, and created a new Chinese-language piece with a group of talented students from Kang Ming High School.
How did you first hear about Mozfest?
I learned about Mozfest from Julie Neville, who invited me.
Can you tell us about your session?
We will perform scenes from "Niobe," one of the most popular pieces from EK Theater's repertoire. The story is from Ovid's Metamorphoses. The piece re-imagines Apollo as a sniper and uses the Xbox 360 game Halo: Reach. After the performance, we will coach volunteers from the audience and give them the chance to perform.
What do you hope people will get out of your session?
I want everyone to see the potential of video games in education and art. I also hope that some people might be inspired, adopt my theatrical techniques, and use them to tell their own stories.
Where did the idea of using video games as theatre pieces come from?
In 2007, I was invited to take a part in the Tiny Theater Festival. Each piece in the festival had to take place in a 6' cube made of PVC. Using video games was my way of working around this restriction. I realized that by projecting a video game onto a screen, I could show an entire world even in a limited physical space.
Is this different from Machinima?
In machinima, scenes are filmed and then edited together later. It does not take place in real-time. Video game puppetry, on the other hand, happens right in front of the audience. For this reason, transitions between games need to be carefully planned, games have to be cued, and performers only have one try to get things right, among other things.
Where do you think the future of art and technology is heading?
I think that the two will continue to mix and meld in the future. I can only speak to this in terms of theater and video games.
In recent years, video games have been influencing theater, and theater has been influencing video games. In the world of theater, there are immersive theater pieces that seem to draw inspiration from video games. In them, the audience makes choices—they follow characters or move to different rooms.
As for video games, some have abandoned traditional modes of gameplay. In recent ones, players explore worlds to uncover parts of a narrative. There are no high scores, goals, or bosses to defeat. The winner does not stay in to play another round. Rather, the story becomes the entire reason for the game's existence. One of my favorites games of this type is Gone Home, and it is a true theatrical experience.
What is one piece of technology you are really excited to see advance?
I'm excited about VR, particularly as it relates to MMO gaming. That being said, I won't be able to use it in my video game puppetry pieces until the technology becomes much more affordable and accessible. I imagine every member of the audience would require a headset to use VR in a theater performance.
If people want to replicate this kind of art at home, what would they need?
A video game or video games; a puppeteer or puppeteers; and an audience.
In terms of video games, some games work better than others. You can build environments in games like Minecraft or Little Big Planet. And multiplayer games like Halo: Reach, which we're using for our Niobe workshop, are useful because they allow several puppeteers to act together in a scene.
What advice do you have for young people who want to enter the industry?
Don't get tied down to the most narrow definitions of "video games" and "theater." Continue pushing boundaries.
Where can people go to find more information about your work?
My website www.ektheater.com
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