The Octopus is the latest project of the Chicago arts organization Cock and Bull, directed by Chris Garcia Peak and Matt Reich. It’s a digital choose-your-own-adventure experience where players can explore many quirky versions of modern life with the help of a many-legged, all-knowing cephalopod overlord. It’s not an easy game to describe: you just have to play it for yourself! The Octopus is virtual theatre, interactive theatre that has expanded since the start of the pandemic.
Creating The Octopus was a highly collaborative process because it pulled from many different skill sets such as filmmaking, acting, storytelling, logic programming (using the platform Typeform), and sound design. We sat down with Matt Reich to talk about his work on the project. Matt is a sound designer and engineer with over 40 credits, including two Jeff Nominations for Sound Design. He has been involved in several of Cock and Bull Arts ventures, including; Voolf, Voyage, Lecherous Honey, and now The Octopus.
How did you go about designing the soundscape for The Octopus?
Matt: Designing The Octopus was a real treat. There were so many different opportunities to include sound in the project. Every video has some sound, be it subtle underscore or big dramatic music. The piece goes in so many different directions and has so many different moods it was fun to play off all the various performances and situations. Not all works feature such variety and opportunity for sound. That’s what makes virtual theatre so exciting.
What was it like to design the piece virtually?
Matt: It was fun to respond to the actor’s performance and the way the videos were edited. The pacing of the edits and energy of the performance informs the sound design of the piece, almost as much as the text itself. Designing the piece virtually was very different from live theater, and I became very detail-oriented and ‘zoomed in’ and time everything down to the millisecond, which I can’t do in live theater as I need to account for subtle differences in actor performance every night.
Can you describe the sound design?
Matt: Like most of my design work, I take a lot of inspiration from electronic music. It’s the genre of music I love most, and I feel it offers a great variety of moods within a consistent tonal palate. You can find joyous music and music that is dread-inducing all within the same genre. For The Octopus, I had fun exploring Italo Disco, Chicago House music, and some modern avant-garde classical music.
You also made your acting debut in The Octopus, what was it like working on the other side?
Matt: Yes! The Octopus was my debut acting performance. It was a ton of fun. I have been collaborating with Chris Garcia Peak for almost a decade, so he made things very comfortable and encouraged me to get out of my usual comfort zone and try acting for the first time since high school.
How would you describe the work of Cock and Bull Arts from a design perspective?
Matt: Working with Cock and Bull is always a treat. Chris Garcia Peak gives me the perfect mix of direction and freedom. I know I can push the envelope and go for bold choices, and I will be supported. Few companies are design-forward, which shows in Cock and Bull’s bold aesthetics.
Why should people play The Octopus? In other words, what do you want them to get out of it?
Matt: The Octopus is unlike anything else I’ve seen or interacted with. It refers to Choose Your Own Adventure Games and Role Playing games but has its Cock and Bull flair. Since Covid hit in a world of Zoom read-throughs of plays, The Octopus stands out as a wholly unique and exciting virtual theatre experience.
The Octopus interactive virtual theatre is live now: cockandbullarts.org. Instagram @cockandbul. Twitter @cockandbullthea.
