Post Scaenam

Post Scaenam is a narrative-driven, 2D Visual Novel, featuring an LGBT romance, centered around Commedia Dell'Arte and the sense of self.

In the medieval theater shows known as Commedia Dell'Arte, an actor often portrayed an individual character for so long that they were known by the character’s name, not their own. A lot of these actors were born already in the business and carried out the roles passed onto them by their elders.

In Post Scaenam we get to meet these actors and actresses behind their masks and get an intimate view of their daily-lifes off stage; more-so, how taking on an imposed role can impact a person's life.

Premisse

Pierre is a 22-year-old boy, raised in a family involved in the theater in 1680. Since the day he was born he was raised to take on the role of the character “Pierrot” in the theatre.

His mother, Barbara, having inherited the family business for generations, is blinded by her own ambitions, expectations for Pierre's future, and the way she herself was taught: to uphold the tradition of theatre, from generation to generation, imposes on his son the same life and the same fate, not understanding Pierre's progressive demotivation for the show business. Due to this, Pierre lives in dismay, feeling that he is losing more and more of his sense of self with each passing day. The actors around him seem content with their lives, thinks Pierre, despite having the same fate, but is that the reality?

Will Pierre manage to find someone who shares the same feelings? Will he find the motivation to fight for his ambitions, or is abandoning everything for a new life his only option?

Environment

Our game aims to talk about the burden people suffer because of things their previous generations left behind for them to deal with. In the same way, we are currently suffering what the actions of previous generations sowed: the consequences of climate change, triggered by the evolution of the environment without control, which will continue to damage future generations if there is not a drastic change in the way our society works.

The Team

Post Scaenam is an academic project developed by three artists:

Clare Rebêlo - Lead Artist and Narrative Designer - @GealachC

Marta Vaz - Team Leader and Game Artist - @meepmeepawoooo

Zenildo Costa - Programmer and Game Designer - @Mr 0

Controls

Arrow Keys, Spacebar and Mouse buttons

-> and Spacebar to go forwards
<- to go backwards