Around 4500 years ago, Sophocles, Euripides and Aeschylus were writing what have long been considered the world’s first plays. Broadly speaking, the medium of theatre has remained unchanged ever since. Until now, if you were to believe Non-Player Character’s writer and performer Brendan Bradley. The show is billed as ‘a new kind of play’, and involves Bradley and four performers from a different Fringe show donning VR headsets and entering a brave new immersive world. The odds were stacked against a paradigm shift in the history of performance happening in a Yotel conference room, but here we are. 

It’s worth noting at this point that nobody else in the audience is wearing a VR headset, so in essence you’re watching five people play a poorly-rendered video game, four of whom have absolutely no idea how to use the technology. But fear not fellow audience member, you too can play along with the game/musical with an app on your phone that allows you to vote on crucial in-game decisions, such as whether the blue character should be given a rock! ‘Finally, a musical that uses your phone!’ is a line from one of the first musical numbers. Aside from Bradley, it seems unlikely that many people have been clamouring for this concept. In fairness to Non-Player Character, there’s an impressive musician who soundtracks the performance live, and Bradley may have a good voice when it’s not lathered in autotune. There’s a positive message about loneliness that may have once been a decent idea, but it’s long been lost in this gimmick-laden void of a show.

Non-Player Character: Live Virtual Reality Musical, Imaginex at YOTEL Edinburgh in association with ZOO, until August 26th, 9pm.