No Save Points is an interactive play that weaves together video game visuals and technology into a touching memoir whose every performance is unique. The "play you can play" was created and performed by Sébastien Heins, co-directed by Heins with Mitchell Cushman, and produced by Toronto interactive theatre veterans Outside the March.
I worked with Sébastien on Miasma – a technically and dramatically intricate segment that sees an audience member issue game commands to Sébastien, who then controls a video game character in a game watched by the entire audience. The character's pose imitates Sébastien's own; the character's position and actions are controlled through a wireless game controller in Sébastien's hand while he does triple duty as actor, player, and played.
Miasma tells the story of grappling with his mother's Huntington's Disease diagnosis – and with his own positive test results.
No Save Points received positive reviews in numerous publications and its run was extended by a week when it premiered in June 2023.
"The play is an innovative combination of video game storytelling techniques, motion-capture and haptic technology, and autobiographical performance."
"No Save Points is a gloriously playful theatrical event… the games are more than a distraction — the very act of controlling Heins’ body is richly metaphorical."