Gideon Reeling announces Interrobang?! Local

Wannabe sleuths take to the streets of Brentford in genre-busting promenade audio experience

Alongside online video gaming and immersive theatre experience Interrobang?! Digital, immersive trailblazers Gideon Reeling announce a new free-to-play local audio experience to run alongside the show.

Interrobang?! Local is part detective game, part audio entertainment, part gentle stroll around the town as players take to the streets of Brentford on the trail of corruption. Created by immersive specialists Gideon Reeling, this interactive experience is part of Interrobang?! Digital – a genre busting theatre-meets-online-gaming experience, in which players are drawn into a real time thriller to become investigators tasked with solving a shadowy murder case.

How does Interrobang?! Local work? Players pick up a specially-printed copy of the Echo newspaper from Watermans Theatre, solve a crossword, and use the answers to find QR codes hidden around Brentford. All you need is a smartphone, headphones, pen and, of course, an enquiring mind.

Due to its success, Interrobang?! Digital also announces an extension to its run, so players can lose themselves in the immersive online world until 31^st January 2022. The show is playable anywhere, at any time, and can be enjoyed alone or in teams.

It is an experiment in interactive and non-linear storytelling that aims to make online theatre more accessible, immediate and appealing to a wide non-traditional audience. The two games have been developed with Storyfutures and are supported by Watermans. Both merge advanced technology with physical and digital play.

Creator and Gideon Reeling co-founder Kate Hargreaves says: “We are constantly looking at ways to increase meaningful engagement for hard-to-reach audiences or those who would otherwise not attend the theatre or performance. Digital exclusion has been brought to light due to the pandemic and an experience like Interrobang?! attempts to addresses some of these issues. It’s free and easy to play and, being audio, is not data hungry”

As part of the project, a percentage of ticket sales has gone towards providing free access tickets to young people.

Gideon Reeling is an immersive theatre company who put the audience at the heart of the stories and experiences they create. For the past 15 years they have been trailblazers in creating truly interactive, site-specific theatrical experiences and interactive games for an impressive list of clients including Google, Cadbury’s, Dior, Hermes, Heineken, Cirque du Soleil and Penguin, to name but a few. Experiences that have seen the company delivering work in the most unusual and elaborate locations such as onboard a flight to Iceland, and in the Palace of Versailles.

For more information see gideonreeling.co.uk/work/interrobang-local