Game developer and performer Alistair Aitcheson is IndieCade 2026’s Bernie DeKoven Big Fun Award winner, known for making alternative controllers and interactive livestreams.
A decade ago he debuted The Incredible Playable Show, which has since played around Europe and the United States along with multiple times in Aitcheson hometown of Bristol in the UK.
Coming to London’s Theatre Deli this February is 2024’s riff on the format My Date with Pierce Brosnan, wherein Aitcheson takes on the role of clown maid Cafetière and the audience navigates her budding romance with the actor Pierce Brosnan… who is of course a taking dummy controlled by the audience.
Naturally.
The show comes to London for one night only on February 6th, and we asked Aitcheson our usual set of questions to set the stage for what audiences can expect from the unique mix of clowning and gaming.
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No Proscenium: Tell us a little bit about your experience! What’s it about? What makes it immersive?
Alistair Aitcheson: It’s the world’s first playable clown show! I play sweet little French maid Cafetière, who lands a date with the man of her dreams, Hollywood actor Pierce Brosnan.
But there's a catch: Pierce Brosnan is a talking dummy controlled by the audience.
As you enter the show you scan a QR code and that lets you type what you want Pierce Brosnan to say. Whatever you type the dummy will say aloud over the speakers, and Cafetière will respond as if he's a living breathing person!
Will dummy and clown find true love by the end of the hour?
You also get to write my dating profile, and play the role of my café customers, ordering foodstuffs to your seats as I try to get it on with my talkative new beau. The invitation is to redirect my date wherever your whims take you.
NP: What was the inspiration for your upcoming experience?
AA: I’ve been performing clown for a long long time but my background is actually in video games, as an indie game developer. I started learning clown to get better at making a connection with my players, and I just fell in love with the form.
To me clown is all about freeform play, curiosity, having an impulse and following through with it just to see what happens when you do. The clown shares everything with the audience. She doesn't have a fourth wall. She and the audience explore this play-space together.
I love the play-space of giddy romance and crushing heartbreak. And I now know that audiences love the play-space of getting me to eat Pom-Bears off Pierce Brosnan's naked chest.
It’s a much richer canvas than anything a computer could offer on its own!
NP: What do you think fans of immersive will find most interesting about this latest experience?
AA: This is a show where everyone has the power to creatively shape the romance. You're not choosing between a fixed set of options. You're able to type whatever you want, at any point, and it will be part of the show. How will the clown respond? Even I don't know!
There's lots of opportunities to interact with me and Pierce Brosnan face-to-face, but being able to interact via your secret messages means you can be deliciously mischievous without putting yourself on the spot.
As a clown I don’t mind trying a risky idea to see if a fun new thread comes out of it. With the anonymity of your phone you’re free to be equally fearless.
NP: Once you started designing and testing what did you discover about this experience that was unexpected?
AA: Every single audience brings something different. I've had some jealous Pierce Brosnans, some philanderous ones, some who are very very forward and others who are compulsive exhibitionists. The biggest surprise has been how the audience seems to find an agreed-upon personality for Pierce Brosnan, totally organically.
I've had some shows where the audience just turn on Pierce Brosnan right from the start. Like he becomes the villain before the date even begins! Another time the audience got really flirty with the clown during the first act - by the time Pierce Brosnan appeared she was totally indifferent to him. She already had so many more desirable partners!
NP: What can fans who are coming to this, or thinking about coming to this, do to get into the mood of the experience?
AA: Fall in love! Break some hearts! Have your heart broken! I know it's not long until show-night but it's long enough to have a turbulent love affair, and if it ends in tragedy then all the better.
Whether you're done with relationships or giddy with the thrill of a new romance, if you come along with strong feelings about love you'll really get to let loose in the show!
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