Released in 2012, Dear Esther changed the landscape of gaming forever. BAFTA -winning composer Jessica Curry wrote the soundtrack for this genre-defying game set on an uninhabited Hebridean island, and the music was later included on a worldwide orchestral tour as part of ‘Replay: Symphony of Heroes’.
Dear Esther Live is something very new - a ground-breaking use of a game within a live performance setting. With cinematic display and spoken narration, the game is played in real-time alongside the musicians who take cues from the player’s progress in exploring the deserted island. Curry’s highly acclaimed score has embarked on a UK tour; with 11 upcoming performances there is still plenty of opportunity to experience the unforgettable Dear Esther Live.
For more information about tickets and venues, take a look here.
‘Dear Esther Live is a fascinating and absorbing way to present a video game and an exciting way to experience a virtual world with a fantastic live score.’
Steven Fraser (The Wee Review) 4 November 2017
‘Dear Esther Live is best understood not as a substitute for actually playing the game yourself but as a way of expanding your appreciation for the work as a whole...
Jessica Curry’s haunting BAFTA-nominated score swells at all the appropriate moments and is performed flawlessly, but what proves most interesting about the presence of the live musicians is how little they actually play. Their silence throughout most of the performance draws attention to how sparingly Dear Esther deploys its soundtrack, which in turn makes its appearances all the more impactful.’
Andrew Gordon (The Skinny) 6 November 2017