Short plays
Mister Quin is a very curious character in the world of detective stories – he came straight out of Agatha Christie’s fertile imagination and I think he has three interests that Altair can exploit.
The first is that he appears in short stories – and Altair will need a substantial stock of short stories, so that it can constantly offer shows to complement the Virtual Reality activities.
I’m really committed to this principle: don’t make people come for 25 minutes – because you wouldn’t see much of me if I had to come for 25 minutes.
Granted, there’s the waiting time, the set-up time, and possibly the time for a drink – but still, I would have felt like I wasted an entire afternoon or evening on a very short activity.
So I’m sticking with the option of booking a Virtual Reality activity and a short show. By the way, it finally allows to schedule short shows too.
So much for the duration of the shows dedicated to Mr. Quin.
The second interest is his theatrical characteristic, Mr. Quin being directly derived from the Harlequin character – so to propel him on a stage is quite appropriate.
As a result, Agatha Christie has introduced a perfectly scenic and artificial dimension into these stories – a dimension that, when read, when seen, becomes terribly fantastic.
And so, terribly scenic – red and green tones are de rigueur, dark atmospheres, nooks and crannies, and of course, English-style graves.
A real delight of stories – and shows.
I would add that a Quin show can, with intelligent adaptation, allow all spectators to participate – since the only role of Quin is to allow the narrator, the so famous Mister Satterthwaite- and the reader – to understand what has been said and shown and to identify the murderer(s), the hiding place(s) of the booty, the plot(s) deviously hatched.
Obviously, it is this third characteristic that interests me the most.
Can you imagine that?
You’re sitting in the room – you see crime scenes – and instead of waiting for the end – you listen to Mr. Quin.
And you find the solution.
Or not.
Quin allows you to do that – obviously it’s Agatha Christie who writes, she cheats a bit – not so much with this character – well, I know…. she has a terribly devious mind, it’s true.
But for once, you can find the truth.
So it would work particularly well with the kind of audience I’m looking for, the one who lives WITH the characters, not the one who looks at the characters.
So these shows, live couples with the AA App, allow each viewer to validate their choices – and win or lose.
Intermission.
The end is played. Satterthwaite will find the truth.
If you have won – you win Hercule Poirot’s moustaches.
If you lost, my good Hastings, everyone suspected it – you win captain Hastings’ umbrella.
All this to triumphantly adorn your theatre in the AA App – even your character, if you insist on giving him waxed whiskers.
Not to belabor the point, but I think you now understand the importance I place on the mobile app – it is an improbably brilliant instrument for fully realizing all the fun Altair can offer its viewers.
ALTAIR - Concepts 