“I had a bit of a breakdown.”
Whereas I’m interested in the mechanics, and how they make people feel."
Key of Dreams has three main narrative pillars, each designed to appeal to various groups of visitors.
Each group has its own goal, linking to the wider weird fiction mythos.
Typically, however, this isn’t a problem.
“His background is database admin - and he treats his LARP as software that he runs on people.
That’s what we’ve tried to do.”
People entering the experience quickly become caught up, she continues.
“It just will.
“The cost is the giant elephant in the room,” Carić notes.
Key of Dreams is not cheap.
“It’s physically very demanding,” Carić says of the actors involved.
And they have to react to how people behave.
“It’s not like a dating sim, though,” Carić quickly adds.
You build a relationship with them, because they’re meant to be real people.”
Carić says.
“We’ve ended up with something of an extended family.”
“Being backstage is like being a GM who has lost control of the game,” Langrish muses.
“Ours is a lot more open world.
In a video game, if you fail or die you just restart.
Whereas we don’t kill the guests.”
We had a couple who came along and solved things in those two different ways."
“We don’t want people to feel like they’ve lost.
We want people to feel bewildered but not for too long.
Sometimes you need that frustration - but you don’t want it to go on too long.”
It’s here the experience’s actors can help - or be persuaded to help - in character.
“Now we’ve done it, I’m confident in saying it’s brilliant,” Langrish says.
“Before that, though, it was a terrifying thing.
There is so much written for this show.”
“And how those nine different things end in the night then changes how the morning happens.”
But like Key of Dreams' many secrets, the machinery behind it all is best left unspoiled.
This sounds like one to discover yourself.
