Manifesto / 2015-16 / as part of Matheson Marcault
Manifesto is a game about compromise, democracy, and really frantically fitting a load of words into blank spaces. It was commissioned by furtherfield.org as part of Frequency Festival in Lincoln, and designed to be a five-minute game that people can play in public spaces like shopping centres, high streets and parks - something easy to understand, quick to engage with, and fun both to take part in and to watch.
Players in two opposing teams are presented with a manifesto, a set of blank spaces, and words to slot into them - many more words than they can fit, leaving them to race against time as they try to come up with a manifesto that they’re happy to stand behind. The game can be played either as a simple race, or with teams reading their manifestos aloud at the end for a voting public.
Manifesto has shown at Frequency Fest (Lincoln, 2015); Beta Public (London, 2015); Game On! (Oxford, 2016); and Field Day Festival (Corby, 2016).