The Mystery of the Raddlesham Mumps Evaluation

Murray Lachlan Young’s unique mash up of cautionary tale, iambic pentameter, theatre and VR Produced by Matthew Linley Creative Projects In association with Action Transport Theatre & Eastern Angles

Raddlesham Mumps exists as a book, as an album, as a theatre show and as a VR and tablet experience….

22 different venues

34 performances

(from Wiltons Music Hall to a library in Ormskirk)

2,860 audiences for the live show

506 participants in schools

VR – 953 downloads, 750 plays in foyers and events

Tablet Game – 153 downloads, 575 plays in foyers and events

The studio album has been played 1,113 times

‘‘THIS! THIS! See this! Young, old and everyone before, after and inbetween – Murray Lachlan Young’s latest masterpiece (and he’s had a few) Matt Everitt (BBC 6 Music) The Mystery of the Raddlesham Mumps tells the story of 7 year old Crispin who inherits his ancestral home on the unfortunate death of his parents …..

‘Just seen the beautifully staged Raddlesham Mumps at Wiltons Music Hall with Joe Allen being utterly brilliant and the fiercely clever Murray Lachlan Young delivering in fine style’

Marcus Brigstocke

….only to find whole generations of his family have come to some very unfortunate ends!

The show opened at Lakeside Theatre, University of Essex on 11th April 2019…..

‘A fearsome but funny gothic tale of dynasty, death, revenge and hope. Fantastic word play, lots of gruesome. Lovely moral’ Michael Rosen

Alongside the live performance audiences experienced a unique child friendly VR prequel!

The prequel, written by Murray, devised by the company and MBD Ltd, then fully realised by MBD Ltd was presented in foyers ahead of the performance,

and is now available free of charge on Google Play Store (for tablets/mobile phones) and on the Oculus App (VR version)

‘Pure genius – utterly exhilarating’ Victoria Grant

The work has toured to 30+ venues from Ormskirk Library to Wiltons Music Hall in London

’10/10’ The Guardian To date the live show and game were seen & played by over 4,000 people

‘It was incredible…8 year old mesmerised, parents also mesmerised.

LOVED IT. GO’ Jo Fletcher Cross As part of the development of the piece in Colchester over 250 pupils from Wivenhoe, Brightlingsea and Alresford took part in workshops….(resulting in an exhibition in Wivenhoe station). More workshops took place in Ellesmere Port as part of our Autumn residency.

In all 500+ school children have been part of The Mystery of the Raddlesham Mumps story

Just breathtaking. The writing, the direction, the music, the costume, the pace, every detail was extraordinary‌.GO GO GO see this show (audience feedback)

Murray Lachlan Young is one of our greatest children’s writers as far as I can see Barbara Pierson, Artistic Director, Lakeside Theatre

The project was supported by the University of Essex who provided

- Financial support (through the EIRA programme) for the development of the VR - The development of an Impact Study by Professor Paul Hibbard and Dr Loes Van Dam - A creative mentor in Dr Liam Jarvis - Support and championing from the Research and Enterprise office - Rehearsal space - Production week and opening performances at the Lakeside Theatre on campus

Here University of Essex Vice Chancellor, Anthony Forster and Registrar Bryn Morris experience The Raddlesham Mumps prequel

Initial findings from the research work carried our by Paul and Loes was presented at the VSAC conference in Belgium, August 2019 and have also been part of Paul’s wider BBSRC-funded work collaborating with researchers at Facebook Reality Labs into the uses of VR

For a University, participating in collaborative projects with industry gives our research real world application and impact. Carrying our research into the audience experience of VR which includes a family setting really excites us as we get to explore how this effects the dynamic and enhances the overall experience of the artistic piece. The other worldly nature of Raddlesham Mumps lends itself to a VR representation and the end result heightens user’s immersion into the tale.

Emma Wakeling, Research and Enterprise Unit, University of Essex

• Beyond the pure fun of collaborating on such an interesting project with such keen, professional and committed people - was the way the VR element opened up areas of the story and production concept that had not been thought of before the interaction with Paul and his team. We were able to wind the narrative clock back and enter a new and dynamic area of the main character’s day, establishing his motivations for his actions during many of the events that would later befall him. This played brilliantly with the family audience, gave a highly contemporary edge to the production and brought the action into non theatrical spaces (in the theatres) offering a prologue and epilogue to audiences and a different and highly complimentary angle on the show.

• Murray Lachlan Young, Lead Artist, The Mystery of the Raddlesham Mumps

Paul Hibbard, Abigail Webb, Mathew Linley and Loes van Dam

Combining Virtual Reality and Traditional Story Telling in “The Mystery of the Raddlesham Mumps�: A case study.

The Mystery of the Raddlesham Mumps is a poem

by Murray Lachlan Young, aimed at children and adults aged 7+, which has been adapted as an audio album, a theatre play and a prequel Virtual Reality (VR) / tablet app. This unique combination provided us with the opportunity to explore the user experience for each media element in its own right as well as the interaction between the media elements for the level of immersion in the story.

Here we particularly focused on the experience of the VR/tablet app and the theatre play. The theatre audience had the opportunity to play the game in the foyer before the performance started.

After the performance participants filled in questionnaires in which they could indicate their level of immersion in the theatre performance and provide ratings for the play and the app. The results (N=228) show that people of all ages interacted with and liked the app. Ratings for the theatre performance were also high and did not depend on prior engagement with the app.

However, the play was liked more by adults than children, and the reverse was true for the app. This suggests a potential generation shift in multimedia story telling.

Alongside the tour we ran a comprehensive press and media campaign.

The performance was featured on BBC Look East, BBC Radio 4 (Loose Ends & Broadcasting House), Talk Radio, Radio 5 Live as well as in-depth interviews with Murray on BBC Local Radio (Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Devon and Cornwall).

Preview pieces were seen in the Colchester Gazette, East Anglian Daily Times and Suffolk Magazine.

Out of the success of The Mystery of the Raddlesham Mumps we have set up Funnelwick Limb Ltd

Funnelwick Limb exists to develop cross platform storytelling work, primarily but not exclusively, for family audiences. We combines live performance with family-friendly VR experiences, games & audio content & old school books. We want to inspire & enable digitally-savvy young people to get lost in language, learn how to create their own stories using different mediums & develop a live performance habit. We want to nurture a new generation of cultural creators &consumers, equipped & hungry for words & the kinds of cultural experiences we can’t yet imagine, unhindered by the barriers to engagement that exist for many today.

Funnlewick Limb Ltd are now starting work on a new project

IFFLY SNEY AND THE TANDLESHAM NOOK the story of ATOM and LUNA

Pic: Map by a child contributing to the R&D

Telling the story - the plan • A podcast ( 2 x 6 eps, released Nov 20 & June 21) • 3 AR animations (theatre on your tabletop) released Nov 20 • A game co designed with children launched late March 21 • Live Lit festivals late March – May with our digital literature stand, record series 2 of the podcast ‘as live’ and talks • Solo performances in festivals July/August 21 • Book launched Autumn 21 or Spring 22 • Stage show launched Autumn 21 or Spring 22

• (plus further touring of the Mystery of the Raddlesham Mumps in Feb 21)

www.raddleshammumps.co.uk

DOWNLOAD THE TABLET GAME FOR FREE FROM GOOGLE PLAY STORE DOWNLOAD THE OCULUS GO VR GAME FROM THE OCULUS APP

www.raddleshammumps.co.uk