ZAPLAB is a live experiment in participatory performance, where artists co-design interaction and instructions in digital performance—built on the edge of liveness and play!!!!
This 5 day, remote, digital journey is written and coordinated by ZU-UK, a theatre, games and digital company based in East London & Rio De Janeiro. Zap Lab unfolds entirely on WhatsApp, creating a live, ongoing lab that works with daily provocations, tasks and collaborations. It’s not just a space to develop work—it’s a testing ground for new kinds of audience interaction, artistic risk, and digital intimacy.
The focus? How audiences relate to each other—not just to the performers.
Each cycle of ZAP LAB brings together artists, weirdos, thinkers, game-makers, and mischief-makers to design new interactive forms, part-performance, part-game, part-experiment. Zap Lab scratches an itch to create differently.
What will happen?
Over the course of 5 days, you will receive:
A daily instruction inviting a solo encounter with the world around you — to tune in, disrupt, or re-see the everyday.
A creative prompt to devise a provocation—an interactive artwork or task—to be sent to two playtesters, designed to spark connection between them.
Raw, real-time feedback on how your game/exercise/ interaction unfolded with reflections from real life playtesters
Who’s it for?
Portuguese speaking;
Artists + performers who want to test and evolve participatory forms
Theatre nerds tired of being passive voyeurs
Cultural producers looking for next-gen relational formats
Academics + researchers in performance, liveness, and collective experience
People who secretly want to mess with the rules of theatre and need a playground to do it!!!
Where is it happening?
On Whatsapp. (ZAP)
Brasilia standard time.
When is it?
20th-24th September 2025 - deadline for applications 1st September
If interested in more information sign up , be the first to know when sign up is live
