A series of online, secret agent-themed immersive adventures has trebled its workforce of actors as people across the country turn to online entertainment and virtual socialising during the COVID-19 crisis.
Created at the start of the coronavirus lockdown, Agent Venture is helping friends, family and colleagues to stay connected through a series of fast-paced events played over Zoom.
Led by a professional actor, teams of four or five friends work together using voice and improvisation skills to try to pull off a successful spy mission.
The series began with two actors in April and expanded to five in the summer. The latest round of hiring takes the acting roster to 16.
Agent Venture founder Chris Stylianou said, "delivering an immersive, theatrical experience online presents a whole range of challenges. It's much harder to create an ambience or atmosphere and so it relies entirely on the skills of the actor.
“That's why we designed Agent Venture to be an intimate experience for a small group of friends—to maximise direct engagement with the performer. It's been so rewarding to see the joy and laughter of thousands of players, and to get the feedback and response we have.
“It's a tumultuous time for the sector but I remain optimistic that Agent Venture, alongside the many other arts companies innovating in this space, will be able to continue to create more jobs."
The series has grown to three missions, all following the same tongue-in-cheek style. There is the classic skyscraper heist to extract top secret files, an adventure in a secret tropical island resort featuring a luxury casino and a trip to a moon base to foil supervillains’ plans for world domination.