FARCE

FARCE (2021-)

Concept and Design by Patrick Blenkarn, Laurel Green, and Milton Lim

Fictional Arts: Reimagining Creative Ecosystems (FARCE) is a role-playing adventure game set in a ‘fictional’ arts ecosystem where you are cast as an Artist, Presenter, or Producer. As your flourishing arts community faces a series of systemic challenges, you are called upon to respond—exactly how, however, is up to you. Will you work together with others in your region or go it alone? Will you devise radical adaptations or cling to the status quo? Will you go about your business until these challenges become too big to ignore? FARCE questions the responsibility of the artist and arts worker and encourages its players to reflect upon the power of artists and arts workers to effect change outside of the context of producing art commodities.

Drawing inspiration from popular games like Dungeons & Dragons and The Quiet Year, this is a participatory team event that balances quirky think-tank problem solving with a commitment to multi-session collaborative storytelling. On the final day of the event, the “FARCE Awesome Town Hall” is convened as a context to share stories and ideas from the week’s adventures.

FARCE was commissioned and originally presented by Canadian Association for the Performing Arts / Association Canadienne des Organismes Artistiques (CAPACOA) as part of the 2021 Reboot Conference where 30 participants (artists, producers, and presenters from around the world) committed to 8 hours of wild role playing over 4 days. A French language version was produced by Zones Théâtrales in 2023.

For current details about the project, visit: www.farce.guide

Zones Théâtrales Game Masters: Barbara-Audrey Bergeron, Joel Lebois, Sébastien Leclerc, Marie-Eve Fortier, Daphney Joseph

Indigenous Consultant: Kahentawaks Tiewishaw

Graphic design and maps: Lee Cookson

CAPACOA Game Masters: Patrick Blenkarn, Laurel Green, Marcos Krivocapich, Gilles Poulin-Denis, Nikki Shaffeeullah.