Taking you through the kaleidoscope of Psychosis,
into the underworld of the Psychiatric system. The Ward Round

The Ward Round project is made up of 4 parts:
1 - The Video Game - an immersive journey through Psychosis and Psychiatry.

2 - The Live Show - a live action reenactment with realtime motion capture.

3 - The Community Workshop - for young people, carers, their friends and family.

4 - The Training Package - combining role play, virtual simulations & XR extended reality. overview Video Game A 1st person (sleep) walking simulator in a not so open world. Taking you through the kaleidoscope of Psychosis, into the underworld of the Psychiatric system.

Trapped in a recurring dream, or is it a living nightmare? The only way out of breakdown is through – if you can piece together the puzzle of the past – by making your way in an immersive maze of memories. Guided only by the lucid dreaming narrator. Learn to play the game or you’ll never get out.

Based on the extraordinary true story of a year in the life of a Psychiatric patient. Framed by one person's dramatic lived experience. Drawing on personal accounts of multiple former patients. Developed in direct reference to clinical notes, interviews, video archives and personal diaries.

“They say you dream of the same house throughout your life… Often one from your childhood. In mine, it’s a Psychiatric ward.” The Live Show The Ward Round is a deeply personal extraordinary true story. An immersive live performance event recreating the lived experience of a year in the life of a psychiatric patient. A live action reenactment combining physical and digital theatre in a three act play – it traces four hospitalisations, half a dozen diagnoses and three Sections under the mental health act. We hear and see stories of shrinks, patients, staff, family and friends, meds and side effects.

Live motion capture animates virtual characters cloned from memory. Digital avatars of past selves are re-inhabited on stage in the moment. Past experiences are interchangeably narrated and physicalised. Live performance and digital puppetry are integrated into sequences of cut scenes in a unique interactive movie format. A virtual production stage doubles as site specific location and flexible set. Digital Twins of real life locations are mirrored in projection mapped virtual worlds on LED walls.
This parallel universe is built into a video game designed to be played by the central performer live on stage, navigated as if in a lucid dream. A Motion Capture suit transforms his body into a human remote control and game console. You are invited into a dramatically deconstructed flashback where virtual and real worlds collide, contrasting clinical medical notes to personal experience. Interviews with family and friends are compared to personal diaries written in the lead up to all four hospitalisations, as we piece together the puzzle of what happened.

The audience completes The Ward Round circle, switching between fellow patients, staff, friends, family, jury and witness. Together we hack our way back into long lost memories, traumas, dreams and delusions.

A richly dark comedy with a dramatic core, The Ward Round offers a unique, dynamic, immersive experience. ...taking you through the kaleidoscope of Psychosis and into the underworld of the Psychiatric system. The Community Workshop
We are collaborating with an incredibly talented team of academics, tech companies, artists & technicians to develop innovative technical tools, creative problem solving platforms, & structured participation models. We are developing a workshop with young people and service users, for their families and friends, to enable better communication, community connection, and greater agency in how we navigate mental health services.

The Training Package
We are building a training package for frontline staff and services, bringing first person stories recreated virtually to those developing the skills to best help people in need.

Both the Community Workshop and the Training Package will be based on an innovative hybrid model that integrates Virtual Reality and Extended Reality [XR] Immersive Technologies with:
• Open Space Technology (a process that enables collaborative problem solving)
• Forum Theatre techniques (from Theatre of the Oppressed)
• Peer supported Open Dialogue principles (an alternative method for treating psychosis and other diagnosed mental illness) Contact Go Back For more information or if you have any questions, please get in touch. A 1st person (sleep) walking simulator in a not so open world. Taking you through the kaleidoscope of Psychosis, into the underworld of the Psychiatric system.

Trapped in a recurring dream, or is it a living nightmare? The only way out of breakdown is through – if you can piece together the puzzle of the past – by making your way in an immersive maze of memories. Guided only by the lucid dreaming narrator. Learn to play the game or you’ll never get out.

Based on the extraordinary true story of a year in the life of a Psychiatric patient. Framed by one person's dramatic lived experience. Drawing on personal accounts of multiple former patients. Developed in direct reference to clinical notes, interviews, video archives and personal diaries.

“They say you dream of the same house, often from childhood, throughout your life… In mine, it’s a Psychiatric ward.”
GW