Over the last month, Absolut Vodka partnered with artists around the globe to create "Nights by Absolut," a series of one-of-a kind events that blended art and nightlife. "Using the night as a canvas," as stated in the press release, these international parties—which took place in Brooklyn, Berlin, Johannesburg, and São Paulo—injected a new artistic vitality into nightlife, revolutionizing the idea of a night out.
“Absolut has a long-standing passion for creativity and has collaborated with artists for decades. 'Nights By Absolut' continues that tradition by bringing the creative vision of artists directly into a night out, allowing them to transform the night beyond the ordinary," says Nodjame Fouad, Director of Storytelling at Absolut in the official press release.
The final event took place in São Paulo, Brazil last weekend and featured an immersive performance experience crafted by award winning video game writer Marianne Krawczyk. Krazwcyzk won a BAFTA and has been nominated for multiple Writers Guild of America awards for her work on the God Of War Series. She has also worked on Shank and the Star Trek video games. Known for the dynamic nature of her work, Krawczyk created a theatrical experience that challenged perceptions and invited the audience to take on new personas for "Nights By Absolut." By taking on these unfamiliar roles, audience members experienced the total abandon and transformative power of a wild night out.
We spoke to Krawczyk about the recent collaboration with Absolut and her thoughts on the progression of video games.
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I think the whole goal of the evening was to transform the night.
The event happened last week in Brazil. How do you think it went?
I think it went really well. Everyone got into character really quickly as soon as they were in wardrobe. That really changes how you feel. Everyone was very willing to participate, and Brazilians are pretty exuberant people, so I think it went great.
How did you find the crowd’s response to taking on new roles?
They loved it! Everyone was really ready for a fun evening. Like I said, when getting them into wardrobe, they just started before we even did any introductions or anything. They had their costuming and their character card, and they just started acting. They just started going.
What was your goal with the performance as a whole?
I think the whole goal of the evening was to transform the night, to take what is normally a night out or an evening out, which could be fun and awesome, and transform it into something exciting for the participants and allow them to actually immerse themselves and get involved in the storyline and empower them to guide the story how they want it to go. That was the initial goal.
What was it like to blend together art and nightlife, two things that don’t necessarily go hand in hand?
I think it actually went pretty well. Again, I have to speak to the guests being so willing. That was the wildcard because you just don’t know what they are going to do. So, I think it worked. We had enough story and enough goals within the night to keep everybody interested.
There were messages in a bottle, and you could write messages to people and send them off, and people were really getting into that. I think the art pieces really worked cause they were big and noticeable; they drew your attention. You might be having a conversation and a drink with someone, but when a guy is dumping paint over himself or whatever, you’re going pay attention.
The storyline was about people from all different periods who came together in this time travelers' ball.
What was it like working in São Paulo? Were you inspired by the location in any way?
Oh my god, the mansion was great. That really set the tone for this magical, transformational experience. The storyline was about people from all different periods who came together in this time travelers' ball. And just having it in that particular home, in that city, really brought it to life.
It took us a little while to get to that location. That was always the desired one, but we weren’t sure for a little while. But the minute I saw the layout, the photos, and everything, I was like, “This is great, this is going to work perfectly.”
Do you think that your background in video game story development helped in crafting this event?
Yeah it did. In fact, the first draft I turned in leaned more towards the game space than a live space. We had to dial that back. I don’t know if you play games, but once you’re in a game, you get directives, and you are there to do those things that we are telling you to do; whereas, here you can do those things in the space. But we also had to leave it loose enough, so if you wanted to have a conversation or drinks or do something else you could. There was very much a design element to the story we were trying to tell.
What do you think is the relationship between video games and art?
That’s an ongoing debate in the world, or at least the game world. I think there’s the tug between the idea that games are fun and they’re entertainment and then the people who are really trying to make more meaningful experiences. The fact that you are giving power to the players or giving choices inside a game space that have meaning speaks to the art of it. That’s why the art stuff fared so well in this event because you were actually actively creating. That’s what the game world is going towards. There’s always going to be fun big AAA games that you just go around and smash things or shoot things, but a lot of the indie games are extremely conscientious of emotion and of artistic endeavor.
The fact that you are giving power to the players or giving choices inside a game space that have meaning speaks to the art of it.
Video games are becoming more and more advanced in everything from storytelling to character development to the beauty of in-game designs. In what ways are video games becoming more and more artistic?
It’s a relatively young medium, so as it matures, the people playing the games and the people creating them are creating more mature experiences, and I think that speaks to the art of it. That also just speaks to making these particular experiences have great meaning for people, so it's definitely going that way.
What future projects are you working on now, or what do you want to work on?
This was really an exciting thing to do. I wouldn’t mind doing something live and interactive again. Punch Drunk's Sleep No More is awesome. I'd like to do something along those lines. It’s much more exciting to have live participants, and it happens in the moment. That kind of stuff would be great to work on.
I’m working on an independent game. We just went early access on Steam. It’s called The Long Dark, and it’s a survival sim. Our story-mode is coming out next year. It’s still very emotion based. The emotion in the "Nights By Absolut" event was fun and transformative and empowering, and this is also empowering, but it’s not a fun game because it’s a survival game.
Would you do something like this again if you had the chance?
Oh yeah it’s great! We’re going to be seeing a lot more of this kind of thing in the future.
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