CandyBomber Productions Brings its New Show FRAY to San Francisco at the Midway

Today, CandyBomber Productions Founder Kate Duhamel announced the San Francisco premiere of FRAY, at The Midway, June 3-4, 2022 at 8 p.m., following its debut at Stanford Live (May 26-27). The live performance will bring the video game universe to life through an inventive blend of authentic game design visuals, an original music composition, and a fusion of hip hop and ballet. Attendees can participate in the FRAY stand-alone video game, placing parts of the performance in the audiences' hands, which they can explore before and after the show.

Embracing The Midway's typical function as a live music venue, FRAY will also feature DJ sets after the show. Tickets for FRAY start at $20 (early bird) and are available now at themidwaysf.com.

"The engaging, beautiful worlds within video games can help us escape, work through our struggles, or see through another lens," says Duhamel. "CandyBomber is pushing collaborative boundaries with FRAY, creating a transmedia experience where video games are not only integrated into the original story but also in the visual storytelling. Audiences will be placed directly in the shoes of the characters, experiencing what it means when the bond between loved ones begins to fray."

FRAY ventures into a new frontier, weaving video games into the DNA of a live dance show, and carrying the show's same characters and story-lines over to a playable game. The interplay of live show and game creates a novel and layered experience of discovery for gamers and non-gamers alike.

Brothers Tullio and Ziya share a deep bond and a passion for video games that light up their sparse world with colorful landscapes. The imaginary characters who inspire and challenge them are much like the people they meet in the real world outside. The brothers enter a contest to build their own video game, which is inspired by themselves, with their on-screen avatars taking up challenges they encounter in real life. Within the game, their avatar hearts grow as they join forces, working as their superpower. As they confront bullies and inner demons in their real lives, the same superpower is evident. But real life isn't a game, and dark forces threaten to draw them apart. Tullio finds himself in a real life quest in which there is no game controller that can help him steer his brother away from the perilous influences that attract him. As he understands the solution can't simply be programmed into a computer, Tullio must confront what it means to love someone you could be losing.

Under the creative direction of Producer Kate Duhamel, the FRAY project encompasses the FRAY Show, the FRAY Game and mobile app. Following CandyBomber's formula for original productions created through surprising collaboration, FRAY is developed by a unique team of musicians, five dancers, video designers and video game developers. Along with Duhamel, who wrote the original story, the creative team includes Music Director James Jackson, who worked on CandyBomber's debut show, FURY. The creative team for FRAY also features Designer Adam Jeffcoat; Video Game Designer Herobeat Studios; Musician for the PC Game Fearghas Hilton; Animator Anjelo Alonte; Stage Video Designers Mark Benis and Mark Lohmann of Moon Moon Moon; and Project Manager of the FRAY Jam mobile game Ron Weaver.

The FRAY video game is a real version of the fictional game the brothers build in the story. Players step directly into Tullio's shoes, learning dance moves and sequences in order to avoid obstacles, solve puzzles and dance battle enemies. The player will receive protection and guidance early on from his older brother character Ziya, and like the story on stage, experience his loss as Ziya gradually weakens, lured away by dark forces as they progress through the game's four levels. The player will have to step up his dancing skills further, taking the lead to acquire enough energy to carry Ziya to the final destination, an allegorical home. The FRAY Game is a single player rhythm-based exploration and puzzle game made for PCs and consoles.

A short mobile game will be available before the live show, inviting fans to step into a dance challenge as the main character, Tullio, who must learn choreography presented by "challenger rats", and perform it to the beat of the music.