You Are Here: A Playable City Map
The city is the stage.
You are the story.
A hybrid, location-based experience blending live performance and interactive digital storytelling across Newcastle.
WHAT IS IT.
You Are Here transforms Newcastle into a living, playable map of stories.
Part immersive theatre, part interactive digital experience, audiences move through real locations, guided by performers or exploring independently, uncovering stories, voices and moments that respond to where they are.
Stories, encounters and digital moments unfold around you. Shaped by local voices and brought to life through live interaction and responsive technology.
You choose where to go next.
What to follow.
What to uncover.
Built through co-creation with local people, the project draws on an earlier prototype developed in Sunderland with Sunderland Youth Council, Historic England and over 100 participants, now expanded into a fully immersive, city-scale experience.
HOW IT WORKS.
guided journeys
An immersive, interactive theatre experience. Join a performer-led journey through the city using wireless headsets.
Stories and creative responses unfold around you, through live moments, digital interaction and playful encounters in the city
Self-led exploration
Explore in your own time using your phone. Follow a route or make your own.
Return at different times. Discover something new each visit.
A LIVING PLAYABLE MAP
Stories are unlocked through movement.
Some are easy to find.
Others are hidden.
The experience evolves as new voices are added over time.
THE EXPERIENCE.
Audiences gather at a city centre meeting point, meet their performer-guide and receive wireless headsets before setting off through the streets.
As the journey unfolds, a location-responsive mix of sound, story, live interaction and digital layers blends community voices, music and performance into unexpected encounters.
You might hear a memory tied to a place, then meet someone connected to it.
Be handed something.
Be invited to pause.
To look again.
Familiar places shift.
The city becomes something you notice differently.
A PLAYABLE CITY
This isn’t a fixed route. You can follow a guided path or explore in your own time.
Some stories are easy to find.
Others are hidden.
You choose where to go next.
You decide how long to stay.
The experience unfolds through movement.
A map shaped by curiosity, choice and discovery.
The digital experience can respond to time of day, location and audience movement, revealing different stories and moments each time you explore.
At points, digital layers extend into the physical world — from subtle augmented elements to location-based interactions that respond to time, place and movement.
THE ROUTE.
The journey moves through Newcastle city centre, connecting places that hold memories, folklore and everyday moments from city life.
Each stop reveals a different voice, gradually building a living picture of the city through the people who know it best.
One moment might be a favourite takeaway.
Another, a lost venue or a shared tradition.
Elsewhere, a hidden story you’ve never noticed before.
Together, they form a kind of scrapbook of the city, layered, personal and constantly evolving.
ACCESS & INCLUSIVITY
Accessibility is embedded from the outset in design and delivery.
Guided routes are step-free and wheelchair accessible, with a relaxed pace and opportunities to pause. Wireless headsets are provided, removing the need for personal tech.
Clear introductions, transcripts and multi-format guides support confidence and intuitive navigation. We work with access consultants and test the experience with participants with different access needs to ensure it is welcoming and easy to use.
A portable “trail in a box” also enables delivery in community settings or for those unable to travel.
CO-CREATION
The experience is created with local people.
Through workshops, conversations and story-gathering, participants share memories, record stories and help shape the locations and moments within the work.
These voices form the heart of the experience — turning the city into something built from lived experience, not just observation.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT.
Launching at NOVUM Festival 2026, the project will be experienced through guided, performer-led journeys across the city.
Following the festival, it will remain available as a self-led digital experience, with further guided performances planned for September and October 2026.
