You may remember Jeremy Linnell from our 2021 Springboard cohort. He’s a neurodiverse theatre-maker who creates work that straddles comedy and horror, with a focus on audience interaction. Recently, he’s been exploring live streaming, theatre and gaming. Empathy with Awfulness is his latest project and one of our seed commissions.

Our seed commissions allow artists to develop ideas from a very early stage. Working closely with our Creative Development team, artists are given time, space and money to explore an idea’s potential, and what a full commission could look like.

With our support, Jeremy will sow the seeds of Empathy with Awfulness, an Alternative Reality Game (ARG) hybrid live experience:

“I’m interested in the increasing popularity of men’s rights figures like Andrew Tate and the direct correlation with the rise of far-right ideals.

Many people are concerned about those that express admiration for Andrew Tate. He possesses a terrifying, seductive appeal that has a transformative effect on people enamoured by him. The question is why and what can be done about it.”

During his seed commission, Jeremy will work alongside us to:

• Meet potential collaborators to explore the potential model of the work, considering:
  • Horror as a theatrical genre
  • How its online component meets an immersive live theatrical experience
  • How Andrew Tate is influencing young people in schools.
• Research Andrew Tate and related figures, explore the underlying philosophies and beliefs, and examine the rhetorical hooks used to engage his fans, potential gameplay and genre elements.
• Work with members of the public to get first-hand accounts of what is appealing about Andrew Tate.
• Begin to construct the idea with a dramaturg to map out the “big picture” of the narrative that the audience will experience. This includes identifying key characters and major plot points. Alongside all of this, they’ll explore how horror is central to the work.

This all leads towards an open public forum; a judgement-free space where people can talk about their experiences.

You can follow Jeremy on Twitter for the latest updates on the project and his work. If you'd like to chat with Jeremy about your experiences, get in touch.