Philadelphia-based and worker-owned Obvious Agency premieres its newest production, Space Opera, a “playable theater” and sci-fi/fantasy game for building empowered community. The groundbreaking interactive theatrical experience blending immersive role-playing, live performance, and collaborative storytelling debuts to audiences and participants
The event will be held on Saturday, June 14 and continues on Saturday, June 21 and Saturday, June 28 at Arch Street Meeting House (320 Arch St, Philadelphia).
Obvious Agency is seeking players, gamers, and theater lovers to gather over three Saturdays and collaborate in an interactive story where the audiences, with the help of trained performer-facilitators, determine how the societies they create will survive, navigate, and dream amongst the stars. Space Opera is not just a show—it’s a living, evolving universe where participants play an active role in shaping the story and collaborate with game masters and performer/facilitators in a unique combination of gameplay and theatricality. Participants develop relationships with fellow players and performers as they join forces to determine the fate of the universe, which carries over into each weekend of play.
Drawing from traditions of both tabletop role-playing games and theater, Space Opera participants will craft the story of fictional societies attempting to survive an oncoming cataclysm over multiple days. The event uses Dungeons & Dragons-style dice rolls and audience role-playing, combined with facilitation tools inspired by the theatrical form Theatre of the Oppressed, to place participant creativity and collaboration at the forefront of the experience. Throughout Space Opera, a team of professional game masters, performers, and designers guide and amplify the audience’s choices, making the story of their galaxy come to life, inspired by Adrienne Maree Brown’s writing in Emergent Strategy where “science fiction is simply a way to practice the future together.”
The result is a dynamic, ever-evolving narrative that changes with every performance, reflecting the unique imprint of each player group. The story is non-linear, meaning no two performances are the same. Decisions made in one session will ripple through the following weekends, creating an interconnected narrative across multiple performances. Players are encouraged to attend for all three weekends to see how their choices have shaped the world—or take on a new role entirely.
Performers improvise and react in real time to the participants’ choices, making each session a
completely distinctive theatrical experience. The shows evolve through player interaction, making audience participation essential to its creative DNA. Technologists and digital artists will find Space Opera a compelling case study in game design-meets-theater.
“Each performance builds off each preceding shows all created by the community of collaborators who exist in the world of Space Opera,” Space Opera’s director and lead producer Cat Ramirez said. “During each performance the players must collaboratively respond to crises that will affect generations to come, adding layer after layer of a story that they have created in real time through the relationships they have developed with the other participants and the performers. In doing so, they co-create the artistic experience.”
The Space Opera world premiere in June follows a series of playtests conducted over the last two years. Unlike a piece of theater that might undergo workshops or previews, Space Opera is an interactive game that requires frequent playtesting. The feedback from play testers help create a better, more accessible game.
Space Opera has openings for a total of 40 players and 100 observers for each session, which begin at noon and end at 7 p.m. and includes a catered meal.
Obvious Agency’s interactive live performances blur the lines between audience and performer, theater and game. The cooperative partners with cultural institutions and universities to attract new audiences and create unique ways for their existing audience to engage more deeply in the work that they are already doing, and shares their wisdom on democratic practice across the arts ecosystem.
Tickets to participate in all three weeks of the Three Episode Saga of Space Opera are $360 with a minimum of $90, all on a sliding scale. It includes three full-day sessions of Space Opera gameplay and three catered meals; One Episode Experience tickets for a session are a minimum of $50 based on a sliding scale and includes one full-day session of Space Opera gameplay and a catered meal. Galactic Witness or Slot-based Observer tickets are a minimum of $15 based on a sliding scale. It includes entrance to Space Opera as an observer for two-hour sessions. All participants must be masked. Covid tests are provided.
Tickets are available online at this link.
Frequently asked questions and additional information, including an early notification ticketing form, is available at this link.
Obvious Agency will hold a final playtest for Space Opera Sunday, April 13, 1 p.m. – 7 p.m. at Arch Street Meeting House. This gameplay preview will be the last chance to experience Space Opera before players gather over three epic weekends in June to save the universe.
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