Work
Hostage
Maker But, Why? · Work date 2026 · Medium telephone · Role work
Description
“Dive into a high-stakes, intense world with Hostage, a groundbreaking 2-hour immersive experience designed to teach real-world hostage negotiation techniques that you can use for the rest of your life. Developed after three months of rigorous research, Hostage blends psychological principles with realistic scenarios, offering players the chance to become life-saving negotiators. Over the course of five critical phone calls, participants will be tasked with navigating intense conversations to try and save hostages. Each call challenges players to think on their feet, apply effective communication strategies, and make tough decisions under pressure.” For one to six players. 120 minutes. Content note: mortal peril.
Source. https://voidspacezine.com/voidspace-live-2026-show-strand/
Presented at Voidspace Live 2026. Saturday 7pm, Studio 8. Two features are rare in this archive: it is built for one to six players where almost everything else here is solo, and its stated aim is transferable skill rather than story — “skills honed through this immersive experience are designed to be transferable to everyday life.” But, Why? is the company behind the hostage-negotiation margin figure cited in this research, and Nicky Perfect, formerly the UK's Director of Hostage Negotiation, was interviewed for it. This work sits between the two.
Anatomy
Thirteen criteria after Lauren R. Beck. Each carries a source grade: M maker-confirmed, P published, F first-hand, I inferred by the compiler, ? not yet established. Definitions are on the anatomy page.
- Participants listen through headphonesnoI
Phone calls in a studio room; no headphones mentioned.
- Participants move through space as part of the worknoI
Players stay in the room for the duration.
- Audio technology is necessaryyesP
Five phone calls are the structure of the piece.
- Site-, situation- or language-specificSituationI
Requires a room and a group at an appointed hour; a circumstance rather than a named place.
- Engages with the history of a sitenoI
No documented past of a real place.
- Created for an urban environmentnoI
No urban dependence.
- Created as an artwork other than theaternoI
Presented within an immersive performance strand rather than as another art form.
- Intended to be understood as theateryesI
Programmed at Voidspace Live and described as an immersive experience.
- Accidental real-world sights and sounds are importantunknown?
Not addressed.
Did you experience this? Tell us - Spectator must participateyesP
“Your words and decisions matter.” Players must negotiate; nothing proceeds otherwise.
- Has live performers other than the participantsyesI
Five conversations with a counterparty; live performance is implied but not stated.
- Involves game playyesP
Players, scenarios, decisions under pressure and hostages to save or lose. Rules, objective and a resolution state.
- Uses props other than the listening deviceunknown?
Not addressed.
Did you experience this? Tell us
2 of thirteen are still unknown for this work. If you experienced it, you can settle them in a minute.