The Archive of Missing Things
Artist: Zuppa
Mainstage Presentation
Russian Hall (600 Campbell Street, Vancouver)
Wednesday February 5 @ 8:30pm
Duration: 90 minutes
The Archive of Missing Things – Zuppa
Photo by Zach Faye
Image description: A woman is standing in a library, in between two long bookshelves, filled with many books. She holds a book open and is looking down at the page, reading. The woman has long, dark hair and is wearing a white t-shirt and leaning up against the bookshelf on the left hand side of the photo. There is a bright orange wall in the distance, and you can also see some fluorescent lighting.
“The Archive of Missing Things was founded in order to collect, catalogue and store all missing objects that are in the world. The Archive was built around a secret.”
The Archive of Missing Things is a web-based game, inspired by Zuppa’s critically acclaimed live show of the same name. You sit at a long table, one of several players attempting to uncover the correct path in an online gamebook. You have 90 minutes to find The Heart of the Archive. Do you go it alone, or share information with other players? Do you get lost in the story, or in the thrill of pursuit? Clues to guide your online journey are all around you: in video and audio tracks, even in the room itself. You will have to be observant... and lucky.
The Archive of Missing Things is a meditative quest for the age of rising sea levels.
For this special presentation, Zuppa will host audience members through the web-based game on their own laptops, while sharing parts of the visual world at the Russian Hall for HOLD ON LET GO.
Starring: Ursula Calder, Cash Gallant-McLean, Miranda Jones, Sebastien Labelle, Raeesa Lalani, Stewart Legere, Lindsay Ross, Tara Taylor
Featuring Appearances by: Ny Langdon, Zya Langdon, Jessica Lewis, Kathryn McCormack, Alex McLean, Olivia Rankin
Beatrice Mason’s Voice: Anne Bergstrom
Conceived and Written by: Kate Cayley
Conceived and Directed by: Alex McLean
Additional Writing by: Alex McLean
Filmed and Edited by: Zach Faye
Web Development and Design by: Ned Zimmerman
Illustrations by: Colleen MacIsaac
Original Musical Score by: Stewart Legere
Sound Design by: Brian Riley
Audio Recording, Mixing and Mastering by: Jackson Fairfax-Perry
Costume Consultation: Andra Ritchie
Production Management: Jess Lewis
Production Assistant: Olivia Rankin
PLEASE NOTE
Audience members are required to bring and use their own laptops to participate. The show involves reading text and watching video on a screen, while listening to an audio track. A transcript of spoken text is available.
The Archive of Missing Things is the result of a long collaboration between Zuppa, web developer Ned Zimmerman and Trillium-award-winning writer Kate Cayley.
Supported by The Canada Council for the Arts, Arts Nova Scotia, Arts Halifax and Nova Scotia Communities, Culture and Heritage.
Information for Presenters: The Archive of Missing Things has toured as a live show in Canada and the UK since 2019. It has existed as an entirely online experience since 2023. This is the first time it will be presented in hybrid form -- as a collectively experienced online game.
ZUPPA is based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. We aim to make extraordinary experiences that provoke the consideration of new perspectives and ideas. We prioritize questions over answers, and the discovery of possibility over the depiction of what is.
We are Alex McLean, Ben Stone, Stewart Legere and Sophie Schade. With each new project we attempt to do something we don’t know how to do and work with collaborators who bring new life experiences, perspectives or skill sets to the table. Zuppa works in Mi'kma'ki, the traditional, unceded territory of the Mi'kmaq people. We are all Treaty people.
CONTACT
info@zuppa.works
902-489-9872
zuppa.works
X: @zuppaworks
Instagram: @zuppaworks
Facebook: /ZuppaWorks