(this is just a short overview about machina ex. we are working on a complete translation of our sites. but that will take some more time)

machina eX is a group of young media and theatre artists designing computergames in real life environments. instead of sitting in front of a screen and a keyboard, in our games you play in real rooms, using real items.

machina eX creates unforgettable events somewhere between point and click computergames, theatre and interactive installation.

How does it work?
With electronic sensors, real human actors and loads of items we create real-life environments in which the audience has to solve puzzles: Using the items they find in the scene they can help the characters of the game. It is only by solving the mysteries of the scene that they can experience the whole story. Instead of sitting in front of a computer screen the audience stands in the middle of the game. Doors can be opened for real. Lights can be switched on and off. Anything can be touched, tested, used, collected and combined in order to test the reaction of the room and the characters in it.

Why do we do it?
We believe that combining videogames and theatre can change the way we use these arts: Computergames can be art but not many theater maker see it. By transferring the principles of gaming into the theatrical context, different people take a different look at it. And gamers who already know that games can be art? They will find a complete new way of gaming experience: machina eX throws you directly into the game universe. It’s the most immersive game experience you can have.

15.000 Gray

15.000 Gray is our 2nd game / performance / piece. It is our first mobile installation and runs about 40 minutes.

This time the game is set in a laboratory: Professor Hövel has had a breakthrough. But his knowledge is about to fall into the wrong hands. What will you do? Now you are in charge to solve the puzzles, experience the story, save the world!

It has been awarded with the jury price at the 100° festival, Berlin and was invited to “Impulse Theater Festival” 2011 in Düsseldorf, to “Körber Studio Junge Regie” in Hamburg and to the “Donaufestival 2012″ in Austria .

fotos in print quality here.

Maurice

Maurice is our first full-length performance (about 70 – 90 min). It was played and produced in summer 2010 in three rooms and one corridor in an old military base in Hildesheim, lower saxony (near Hannover).

Here we dive into the adventures of Anika and her stuffed rabbit Maurice: We help them trick the ghostly nun. We make them meet the caretaker, who then becomes a hero and makes a terrible mistake…

A house filled with memories. A young lady who is commited to a hospital. An orphanage that once has been a barracks. Full of tanks and howitzers, anti-aircrafts… A weird caretaker and a sick girl that likes to play war games. Sirenes and a whole bunch of unsorted memories. The gamers are the poltergeists of the building, trying to reconstruct its memories. Are they going to help Anika to remember what happened? Will they be able to prevent the caretaker making a great mistake?

“Maurice” was concepted as a permanent installation and needs about 2 weeks to be rebuilt. Secretly, machina eX hopes to be able to rebuild it someday…

fotos in print quality here