Voices of VR #1687: Text-Based Adventure Theatrical Performance “MILKMAN ZERO: The First Delivery”
Dec 7, 2025
Matt Romijn, a performance artist and theatre practitioner, dives into the innovative world of hybrid stage pieces and interactive narratives. He discusses his recent project, MILKMAN ZERO, a live text-adventure performance, drawing inspiration from fifty years of text games. Romijn shares insights on audience interaction, his unique performance style, and the technical workflow behind creating his theatrical experiences. He also explores the future of interactive performance, emphasizing a generational shift towards blending gaming with theater.
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From Bag Of Worms To Milkman Zero
- Matt described Bag of Worms and God Mode as predecessors that mixed motion capture, live actors, and game-like interaction.
- Milkman Zero evolved from those experiments into a text-adventure performed live.
Text Lowers Cost, Raises Imagination
- Text adventures strip performance down to imagination and language, offering a fresh constraint for a theater maker.
- Matt saw a practical benefit too: a lean touring format needing only laptop and performer.
Let The Text Carry Emotion
- Stay neutral onstage to let the audience inhabit the text and treat the player as a cipher.
- Avoid fake surprise since the scripted nature makes acted astonishment feel disingenuous.