An interactive political thriller with a branching narrative, written for young audiences from ages 14 and up

Under attack was the culmination of the three-year development project, which I led at Svenska Teatern. The purpose of the project was to explore new ways to incorporate digital or virtual mediums with live performances, and to make the theatre’s audience engagement work more accessible to wider audiences. Under attack was commissioned by Svenska Teatern and written (in Finnish) by Veera Tyhtilä. The production was directed by Lidia Bäck.

Under attack is set in the staff cafeteria at the Finnish Parliament House. It’s Friday night and only four politicians, each representing a different, unnamed political party, are about to leave for the weekend, when the country is attacked by a group of anonymous cyber terrorists. The President of the Republic reaches out to them: the attackers have given him a set of demands the government has to choose between, each with potentially disastrous consequences to the national security and future of the country. The audiences are invited to vote for which of the alternatives they deem to be the best to proceed with, using a voting system programmed for the production. The story evolves according to the choices the audience makes.

Reviews (in Swedish):

Under attack – tankeväckande föreställning där publiken ska rädda Finland från en cyberattack (Svenska YLE)

Under attack är en lärorik interaktiv pjäs om politik (Demokraatti)

Publiken i maktens centrum – interaktivt på Svenska Teatern (Västra Nyland)