Theater's Next Stage

It began as a video game about making games, but ‘Dreams’ could go far beyond that

- Mo Mozuch

DEVELOPER MEDIA MOLECULE is setting the stage for a new way to play video games. Its latest project, Dreams, is a game about making games—an intuitive tool kit that encompasses all aspects of game development: music, animation, 3D modeling, logic and more. The concept, however, aims to attract anyone with a creative idea, and although Dreams is still in development (its release on Sony’s PlayStation 4 is expected this year), it already has a partnership taking it where games have never gone before: the theater.

The project’s open call to creative professionals and amateurs captured the attention of Punchdrunk, a theater company best known for its production Sleep No More, an immersive interpretation of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth. The show puts audience members inside a five-story hotel with more than 100 rooms and tasks them with wandering through a wordless, nonlinear version of the play at their own pace. They can follow 30 different actors and eavesdrop on scenes, as well as discover details in cabinets and drawers.

Now, Punchdrunk is using an early version of Dreams to design sets like Sleep No More’s McKittrick Hotel for future productions, proving that the video game has far more potential than its “game about making games” elevator pitch.