What We Leave Behind

Background

What We Leave Behind was created in response to a brief on immersive theatre and escape room design as part of my MA in Games and Playful Design at Goldsmiths.

The brief challenged us to build an embodied, interactive experience that would evoke empathy using narrative and technology. Our team developed a high-concept, emotionally driven piece about memory, identity, and the ethics of reconstructing a person’s consciousness.

Audiences stepped into the role of scientists, tasked with restoring the mind of Dr. Isaac Larimore, a fictional neuroscientist who had tested an unproven memory reinsertion device on himself. Using interactive RFID memory cards, participants could explore and select only ten memories to bring back, triggering AI-generated outputs that degraded over time to simulate cognitive collapse.

The result was a live, AI-integrated immersive theatre experience combining storytelling, interactive design, and real-time system reactivity.

My work

As Writer, Narrative Designer and Creative Lead, I was responsible for driving the concept from initial idea to final production in just eight weeks. My work included:

• Leading narrative design, worldbuilding, and character development
• Writing memory card content, monologues, and in-world documents
• Designing the branching structure that shaped the audience’s emotional journey
• Collaborating with technologists to build a system that used LLMs and RFID inputs to deliver live, degrading AI responses
• Directing playtesting and iterating based on user experience feedback
• Co-producing the final live performance and managing project delivery timelines
• Shaping audience interaction, onboarding, and emotional framing
• Presenting the work publicly at Goldsmiths, with live feedback from attendees and faculty

What We Leave Behind explored how narrative systems, memory design, and audience agency can create emotionally resonant interactive theatre. It laid the groundwork for further experiments in live, AI-powered storytelling. 

Designed and created with Marcus Round, Michael Doyle, Mikey Smith, Linyun Song.