Granny Brunch — 🧓 pretend to be old for a day
Dear old friend,
It's been years, but I still remember you, always seizing life by the balls. How did that turn out for you? Married with kids, or still an adventurous single? Did you discover your queerness, hitchhike through Africa, but surely you never accepted that boring office job !?! Please tell me you published that album.
Let's reconnect over our favorite pastime:
✨ B R U N C H ✨
We gather to spread bread on butter and sip hot coco, while re-telling old tales, bragging about our grandkids and sharing the latest gossip. Did someone say Bingo?
Experience Elements
👵 explore what wisdom comes with age
✨ full-day immersion into your future granny
🎉 80s closing disco
🚶♀️ public play: grannies going to the market
🥘 potluck style brunch
🎁 expect bingo winners, broken bones & death bed regrets
About the play
The Granny Brunch ran for two editions, as a casually theatrical meet-up of humans at play, pretending to be old for a day. We met dressed as grannies (and grandaddies) to explore what it would mean for us to age with grace, give advice to our younger selves, and enjoy a silly roleplay experience with friends.
In our society, intergenerational experiences are becoming increasingly rare — this experience was designed as an invitation to feel into intergenerational compassion and play.
Learnings & Experience
Secret Actors for extra immersion: This was the first event in which I utilized secret actors. During our public play stroll, we encountered to crazy grannies feeding imaginary pigeons in the middle of the market. The experience was surreal and greatly added to the experience for the participants (”this was so bizarre and cool!” “I first thought these are strangers, why were we approaching these lunatics”). We also had a doctor come in to check the vitals.
Out of character breaks: Especially when people are in character, having a schedule of happenings and activities helps keep people immersed, so people avoid sliding into small talk or running out of things to play around. But being always in play is exhausting — having “out of character” breaks gives participants a little breather.
Entry and exit experience: Having an entry (into character) and exit (out of character) experience helps with the experience flow and can keep participants accountable and immersed into to the experience. It creates somewhat of a social norm around “we are now entering a new reality that we all agree upon. We are now all subject to the rules and agreements of this new universe”.
Create your own Granny Brunch
Connect to me via Instagram @humanatplay where I announce all my events :) Want to run your own edition with? Send me a DM or email to kuba@humanatplay.com, and I’ll help you organize it for you and your friends! (incl. experience design blueprints and hosting tips)