IndieCade Playable Theatre Symposium
March 23-24, 2026
In-person at the University of Cincinnati
The IndieCade Playable Theatre Symposium 2026 is a two-day, in-person series of events for scholars, students, creatives, and the curious, exploring the ever-evolving medium of playable theatre. Virtual-reality performance, live-action role-play, jubensha, improvised digital escape rooms, and alternate reality games all fall under this umbrella. Through workshops, panels, and performances, the symposium will provide a forum for embodied experiences that grant their audiences meaningful agency and remain in dialogue with both games and the theatre arts. This event is sponsored by the UC Game Lab in the College of Arts & Sciences at the University of Cincinnati, in collaboration with the Taft Research Center, which hosted the Role-Playing the Humanities Summit in 2025. It is a joint project of Playable Theatre International and IndieCade, which have been co-hosting the online version of the symposium since 2021.
Admission is FREE, but registration is required. Register SOLD OUT!
Event Details
Participants should plan to arrive in Cincinnati on Sunday March 22nd, should they wish to participate in the full two days. Across the street from the venue is the Fairfield by Marriott Inn & Suites Cincinnati Uptown/University Area. On Monday, several workshops on different aspects of playable theatre will be followed by lunch, panel talks, and an evening of performances. On Tuesday, workshops and lunch will then be followed by working groups, where new work will be brainstormed, with another evening of performances.
Check back here for updates about the session schedule and this year’s speakers!
Founded in 2016, the UC Game Lab facilitates the teaching and research of games and playable media at the University of Cincinnati.
Here are just some of the amazing sessions from the Playable Theatre Symposium series of events. Access the entire archive by becoming a Playable Theatre or IndieCade member!
Braden Roy
-Feverish Media | XR LIVE | Playable Theatre International-
Braden Roy is an award-winning narrative designer, writer, producer, developer, performer, PGA member, and Playable Theatre Board Member. A co-founder of Feverish Media, XR LIVE, and Ferryman Collective, he also established the XR LIVE Performance Exhibition. A multi-disciplinary “doer-of-things,” Braden specializes in immersive XR while occasionally struggling with biographical brevity.
Celia Pearce
-Northeastern University/Playable Theatre/IndieCade-
Celia Pearce is a game designer, curator, researcher and Professor at Northeastern University, and co-founder of both IndieCade and Playable Theatre. She is the author of Communities of Play (MIT Press 2009), and PLAYFRAMES: How do we know we are playing? (MIT Press 2024).
Edmond Y. Chang
-Ohio University-
Edmond Y. Chang is an Associate Professor of English at Ohio University. He co-authored Video Games, Literature, and Close Playing with Timothy Welsh, and co-edited Roll With Advantage: Creative, Collaborative, and Critical Responses to Dungeons & Dragons with Suzanne Richardson. He is the Editor-in-Chief of Analog Game Studies.
Nick O’Leary
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Nick O’Leary is a stage director, scenographer, and game designer. Working across theater, opera, and immersive experiences, Nick has directed everything from world premiere plays to explosively reimagined classics. His original works include grand immersive spectacles and intimate participatory events.
Nicole Orabona
-cirqueSaw-
Nicole Orabona is the co-founder of cirqueSaw. With their partner Nathan Leigh, they produce remote work at the intersection of live performance and games. Their award-winning interactive pieces include labRats (NarraScope 2025 Featured Showcase, IndieCade 2026 Winner, GDC ExGS 2026) Void Main and POV: You Are An AI Achieving Consciousness.
Serena Yang
-Northeastern University-
Serena Yang is a master’s in Game Science and Design at Northeastern University and a multidisciplinary designer-researcher focused on cognitive sandbox games for adult learning. Her work integrates psychology, interactive media, and AI to explore identity, relationships, and metacognition through interactive games.
Stephen Butchko
-SAG/AFTRA, PGA, Television Academy-
Stephen Butchko earned a BA in theatre from Western Washington University. After relocating to Los Angeles, he produced and performed in independent stage and film projects with his wife, Deirdre Lyons. In 2020, he co-founded Ferryman Collective, creating scripted theatre in virtual reality, contributing as director, producer, writer, and actor.
Deirdre V Lyons
– Ferryman Collective –
Deirdre V. Lyons is a Los Angeles producer, director, and performer, and a co-founder of Ferryman Collective, creating award-winning live theatre in virtual reality. She is a producer, assistant director, and performer on Uncanny Alley: A New Day, and directed the SXSW Audience Award winning VR production Gumball Dreams.
Jonaya Kemper
– University of California Santa Cruz–
Jonaya Kemper is an award-winning game designer, academic, and educator. Currently the Assistant Teaching Professor of Playable and Participatory Media at UC Santa Cruz, her theory of emancipatory bleed asks players to utilize roleplay as a stage for personal and community liberation.
Vivien Grimm
-Grimmoire Productions-
Vivien Grimm is a larp writer & designer. She’s designed and run Lies & Liability and Hawkins, two weekend-long immersive experiences. She believes in the transformative power of storytelling.
Dr. Jason Cox
-The University of Toledo-
Dr. Jason Cox is an Associate Professor of Art Education at the University of Toledo in Toledo, Ohio. His research focuses on games and play as arts-based research. He is also the author of the keepsake RPG Five Hundred Year Old Vampire as well as numerous larps.
Daunielle Rasmussen
-Merry Band Entertainment-
Daunielle Rasmussen is an Immersive Theater Artistic Producer who worked in regional theater for over 15 years and is now the CEO/Artistic Director of Merry Band Entertainment. Rasmussen is also a freelance Immersive director and actor. Current companies include American Immersion Theater, Science Heroes Newport Aquarium and UC Medical School.
Nathan Leigh
-cirqueSaw-
Nathan Leigh is the co-artistic director of cirqueSaw, and inventor of the Familect programming language. With partner Nicole Orabona, Nathan created the digital interactive performance labRats (NarraScope Featured Work 2025, IndieCade Live Action Award 2026, GDC Experimental Games Showcase 2026).
Evan Torner
– University of Cincinnati –
Dr. Evan Torner is Associate Professor of German and Niehoff Professor of Film & Media Studies at the University of Cincinnati, where he directs the undergraduate program in German Studies, the UC Game Lab, and the curriculum for the BFA in Games and Animation. He co-founded and still helps coordinate the journal Analog Game Studies and the Golden Cobra Challenge. He is Secretary of the Playable Theatre Organization and an IndieCade Committee Jury Member.
Celia Pearce
– Playable Theatre/IndieCade/Northeastern University –
Celia Pearce is a game designer, curator, researcher and Professor at Northeastern University. She is co-founder of IndieCade and Co-Executive Director of Playable Theatre. Her first play, (F)UNFAIR, co-created with Nick O’Leary and Dacha Theatre, premiered in Seattle in 2022. She is the author of Communities of Play (MIT Press 2009), and PLAYFRAMES (MIT Press 2024), builds Goffman’s Frame Analysis and performance studies scholarship to explore the ways in which we distinguish between play, ritual and everyday life.
