Real and virtual worlds meet in Minecraft play

Watch the work

In 2017, The Space commissioned Derry Playhouse to produce Playcraft, the world’s first play designed, developed and performed in Minecraft – and also performed simultaneously on the stage in Northern Ireland.

During October 2017, the curtain rose on a new production at the Derry Playhouse Theatre and those seated in the theatre shared the experience with a global online audience, all immersed in the enormously successful video-game Minecraft.

Playcraft Live, was performed by both human actors on stage and their corresponding digital avatars in the world of Minecraft. The production was split between live performances by actors on stage and digital puppeteers controlling the actors within Minecraft. Slipping between both stage and game world, the story unfolded across different locations and time from within the story.

Playcraft Live character Liam - Liam is a Minecraft avatar
Playcraft Live character Liam

Playcraft Live was commissioned by The Space and is a collaboration between The Playhouse Theatre, world-renowned creative producer, Adam Clarke, digital educators, MakeMatic, and a diverse team of Minecraft personalities and artists.

Minecraft YouTubers

Throughout the summer, Minecraft fans were invited to be involved in the production, finding out all about the play and contributing to the process along the way. Online challenges, featured on the Playcraft Live website, invited participants to learn about aspects of theatre production, from set design to acting, costume creation to scriptwriting, as they joined guest YouTubers, including AmyLee33, SeaPeeKay, NettyPlays and Bigbst4tz plus writer Alex Scarrow, West End costume designer, Katrina Lindsay, and actor Art Parkinson (Game of Thrones/Kubo and the Two Strings).

Playcraft Live character Liam (a Minecraft avatar) inside the Titanic
Scene from Playcraft Live – Titanic Interior

Playcraft Live premiered on Saturday 14 October, both on stage at the Playhouse and was broadcast to the world online at www.playcraft.live

Follow Playcraft updates on Twitter and subscribe to the YouTube channel for all of the latest videos. Read our interview with some of the Playcraft team here.