Virtual Ritual

An original gaming performance takes its viewers to the parallel world of online video games in an exploration of the digital society formed by the millions of people around the world who log into the vast worlds of gaming every day.

Virtual spaces offer their users endless possibilities for enjoying themselves without the constraints of harsh reality. Still, every game has its rules. The architect and urbanist Osamu Okamura, YouTuber Atlet and photographer and gamer Adéla Vosičková: these three performers will form an expert gaming panel to unpack the hidden mechanisms, prototypes and rituals that shape the seemingly weightless world of online videogames. What norms, rules and codes apply in virtual space and reality? What role do gaming principles play in our society? Through an original use of live video, 3D animations and YouTube formats, the performance unveils hidden links between real and virtual living spaces against the backdrop of the rapidly growing gaming industry that is changing the ways we understand reality.

“I’m interested in finding connections between the virtual and the real. I often come across the opinion that video games are just entertainment for kids or an escape from reality. But the gaming industry has grown in recent years in such a way that it has started to change the way we have fun, how we communicate with each other and where we meet. Virtual and real can no longer be separated, one interferes with the other and both must be taken seriously.” – Jan Mocek

Audience: Adult, Children 16+

Jan Mocek is a theatre-maker based in Prague. His performances combine elements of pop culture, politics and personal experience to speak about the times in which we live. At the same time, he offers his audience an emotionally atmospheric and strongly sensual experience. His most recent performances include: Virtual Ritual (2019), I Am the Problem (2020), Present: Perfect (2021) and Landscape with Pheasant. Hare and Doe (2022), which have been presented nationally and internationally at festivals such as Fast Forward Dresden, Use the City Košice, Submerge Digital Arts Festival Bristol or 4+4 Days in Motion Prague, to name but a few. Jan Mocek is a member of the IN-SITU – European Platform for Artistic Creation in Public Space. SixHouses is a production platform led by Táňa Švehlová that provides complex production support for Jan Mocek’s projects.

Awards/Press

 “The authors of the performance offer a brand new perspective on the real world by performing in the virtual one.” – Daniel Svoboda, Týden, 43/2019