After we are done panicking and screaming over the apocalypse, it will be time for those of us who are still alive to get back to flirting. Gyda Arber and Brian Fountain are here to help with that.
Arber and Fountain are the hosts of “FutureMate,” a live show that focuses on how to score once the smoke clears.
“Even when the end has arrived, people will still need to date,” said Arber.
“FutureMate” is a combination of a play and an interactive game that actually matches up members of the audience based on their pre-apocalyptic tastes and interests.
Arber and Fountain play a passive-aggressive couple whose martial bliss has been strained by the breakdown of civilization, but who are still trying to keep it together. They tell the story of how they met and survived, and then they offer the audience a sample of the service that brought them together. By texting answers to a phone number, audience members are matched with their perfect mate that they can then spend the rest of their very shorts lives with.
Arber and Fountain came up with the idea for the show in 2012, during a 48-hour StoryCode hackathon — an event where groups compete to create and tell a story utilizing a number of technological platforms.
“Brian made a joke about post-apocalyptic dating and I thought that it sounded amazing,” said Arber. “So we built a whole dating system.”
They won the hackathon and took home $1,000.
When the pair originally created the project, it was only a 15-minute show comprised mostly of audience participation and a demo of the technology they had created. But it has since evolved into an hour-long show, complete with a backstory about a cataclysmic event and zombies.
“FutureMate” at the Brick [579 Metropolitan Ave. at Lorimer Street in Williamsburg, (718) 285–3863, www.bricktheater.com]. Feb. 12 at 8 pm; Feb 14 at 7 pm and 9 pm; Feb. 15, 21 and 22 at 8 pm; Feb. 28 at 7 pm; March 1 at 4 pm. $20.
