In development since 2021 and premiering in 2024, Space Opera is a sci-fi/fantasy game engine for building empowered community where 40-60 players gather over several days to tell the story of the sci-fi societies that they create attempting to survive an existential crisis. Space Opera brings participants together with a team of artists in a unique combination of gameplay and theatricality, creating a democracy in miniature that is inspired by adrienne maree brown’s writing in Emergent Strategy that “science fiction is simply a way to practice the future together.” We ask audiences to work together to solve complex problems, creating community-centered ideas of how we create an abundant future from dwindling resources.
Part table-top roleplaying game, part interactive theatrical event, Space Opera mixes Dungeons and Dragons-style dice-rolling game mechanics with devised theater and Theater of the Oppressed. Gameplay alternates between individual participants narrating their character’s journey and participants collaboratively telling stories about the societies in which their characters live. Participants are supported by professional facilitators, performers, and roleplayers who scaffold the experience for the participants and play other cultures in the galaxy that come into conflict or cooperation with the players. Taking place in community-connected venues rather than theaters, the experience has a block-party like atmosphere during breaks.
Team
Lead Artist: Daniel Park
Direction: Cat Ramirez
Performance/Facilitation: Joseph Ahmed, Sulu LeoNimm, KC Legacion, Sam Rise
Game Design: Arianna Gass, Dain Saint, Daniel Park, John Bezark
Production Design: Harbour Edney, Evelyn Langley, Dain Saint
Circles Administrator (2022-3): Dominique Pearson