Things to do this Half Term: An IRL online event for gamers, hip hop dance fans families: FRAY WORLD

Candy Bomber :

Game Jam: 6pm Friday 1^st – 6pm Sunday 3^rd November, FREE to enter & attend
Dance battle: 6pm-9pm Sunday 3^rd Nov – Tickets, £5 spectator, £7 battler here
Triple Jam Awards - Game Jam & Dance Battle winners announced: 9pm, Sunday 3^rd Nov
Release of FRAY Game for PC’s on Steam: 9pm, Sunday 3rd Nov

More info at frayworld.com/jam & Itch.io
Join the conversation on Discord
Join FRAY WORLD GAME JAM online via Twitch stream
FRAY PC Game out 3^rd November – add to your Steam wishlist

The award-winning CandyBomber Productions invites fans of gaming and hip hop culture to step into the immersive world of FRAY this Half Term as it presents FRAY WORLD - a unique, hip hop inspired gaming experience during the weekend 1^st -3^rd November.  FRAY WORLD consists of a weekend long FREE Game Jam contest with high profile faces in gaming like Shay Thompson (BAFTA, McLaren, Xbox, Press X To Continue) and Andy Lemon (Course Director, Music and Sound Design for Games, London South Bank University), a Sunday evening live hip hop Dance Battle with some of the hottest B-boys and B-girls, and the launch of FRAY Game for PCs.   

Across 48 hours, the FRAY WORLD Game Jam invites gamers and aspiring game creators of all ages and skill levels to come together in person at White City Warehouse, or online via the Twitch livestream from 6pm Friday 1^st – 6pm Sunday 3^rd Nov. Teams will compete for a £200 cash prize by creating video games based on an exciting music-inspired theme that will be announced at the opening ceremony at 6pm Friday 1^st Nov.   

The excitement will continue at 6 - 9pm Sunday 3^rd Nov, with the live FRAY Dance Battle when the incredible B-boys and B-girls from the FRAY stage show including Kieran Lai (Britain's Got Talent, West End show & Juliet), Kailon Chéry (Raye, Aitch, BirdGang LTD, Avant Garde, Just Us Dance Theatre), Shortbread (finalist at Red Bull BC One UK Cypher, ZooNation, Boy Blue), Nola Nyembo (Nike Dance, Wicked) and George Fairbrother (BBC headliner stage Leeds festival, JD sports, Puma) will compete in an epic Dance Battle.   Participants and audience can register for tickets to be a dance battler or a spectator.  The Dance Battle will be judged by Jevan Howard Jones (Werk The Floor 2023 winner, Flavourama 2024 finalist), Paris Crossley (Break Ya Neck 2024 winner, Get Ready 2024 winner, BSide Festival 2024 winner) and Jordan J Funk (Boy Blue, Pied Piper: A Hip Hop Dance Revolution, Tems, Dua Lipa, Stormzy).

The festivities will culminate with the Triple Jam Awards ceremony at 9pm Sunday 3^rd Nov, when the winning Game Jam team and the winning Dance Battle team will claim their respective £200 cash prizes. 

And that’s not all - FRAY is an ambitious, multi-platform experience and alongside the Game Jam,  FRAY Game for PCs will also drop via Steam and the Epic Game Store.   FRAY Game is a rhythm based puzzle game, in which players jump into the shoes of the FRAY character Tullio to navigate four challenging levels through a maze-like world of isometric dance puzzles and rhythm based challenges, dance battling cunning enemies and solving puzzles to reach an allegorical home.

FRAY WORLD Game Jam is for gaming fans of all ages and backgrounds who can join online or IRL with a like-minded community to have fun, hang out, learn new skills and hear talks from influencers and gaming culture experts such as Shay Thompson. There will be two ‘Friends and Family Workshops’ for beginners hosted by mayamada (Do I Look Like A Gamer?), which will take place on the Saturday and Sunday from 11:30am – 1pm, and a ‘Music and Sound Design for Video Games’ session hosted by Andy Lemon for more advanced game designers will take place on the Saturday. The website will share further updates to the schedule. 

When it ran at Sadler’s Wells Lilian Baylis Theatre this summer, the FRAY show electrified audiences and critics: ‘Extraordinarily expressive hip hop dancers put their own spin on a story about AI’ ★★★★ London Pub Theatres, “The production’s raw authenticity, coupled with the cast’s exceptional talent, ensures that Fray leaves a lasting impression.” Theatre Weekly.  FRAY tells the story of Tullio and Ziya, two deeply bonded brothers, whose connection frays as the elder brother Ziya is lured into a wondrous virtual game world by a beguiling AI avatar character he conjures up for a Game Jam contest. 

Kate Duhamel, Founder, CandyBomber Productions said: “We are excited to bring the FRAY story to life and to the gaming world through the power and energy of hip hop music, dance and culture.  At its core, hip hop is about finding one’s own artistic voice, and the power of that authentic expression to tell stories, connect with others, celebrate and even heal.  It’s perfectly suited to convey the themes and vibes of the FRAY WORLD Game Jam in a way gamers, hip hop fans and families can jump on, hang out, learn skills and enjoy themselves. There is a vibrant community of hip hop fans and gaming fans, and FRAY WORLD aims to bring them together for the first time ever across age groups for a unique, immersive experience. I really believe anyone of any age can make a game, you don’t need to have coding experience, all you need is imagination! It’s going to be a lot of fun, so come and join the fray with us!”

FRAY WORLD GAME JAM schedule at White City Warehouse, 62 Wood Lane, London W12 7RH:

Friday 1^st November                        6-9pm – Kick-off party, Doors open 5pm
Saturday 2^nd November                 Open from 9am – 10pm
                                                         11:30am - 1:00pm – ‘Friends and Family’ Workshop for Beginners
                                                         3-4pm - ‘Music and Sound Design for Video Games’ Workshop for                                                
                                                         Intermediate level 

Sunday 3^rd November                   Open from 9am – 10pm
                                                          11.30am-1pm – ‘Friends and Family’ Workshop for Beginners                 
                                                          6:00pm – Game Jam ends - submissions due on itch.io
                                                          6pm-9pm – FRAY Dance Battle, £5 spectators, £7 battlers
                                                          9:00pm – Game Jam and Dance Battle winners announced

Ends.

Notes to editors:

FRAY WORLD JAM assets link FRAY WORLD DANCER images link 

Kate Duhamel bio: Kate Duhamel is the Founder and Creative Director of CandyBomber Productions, creating live, immersive productions from unique interdisciplinary collaborations among musicians, dancers, visual artists and video game developers.  FRAY is CandyBomber's second major production following the sold-out run of FURY, a multi-media concert experience in which principal ballet dancers portrayed characters in a survivalist story inspired by the iconic movie, Mad Max: Fury Road.  Previously, Kate wrote, directed and produced independent films and created video designs for stage.  Kate received rave reviews for her innovative video designs for San Francisco Ballet's staging of “Swimmer." Her dance films have won awards and shown in film festivals and museums around the world.  Previously, she produced and directed narrative and documentary films for NGO's working in the Middle East and Africa.  Kate has served on the boards of San Francisco Ballet, SFJazz and Alonzo King LINES Ballet, and currently serves on the Board of Trustees of her alma mater, Stanford University.

About CandyBomber Productions: The FRAY Show, FRAY WORLD Game Jam and FRAY Game are the brainchild of Kate Duhamel the founder of CandyBomber Productions, and creator of the successful show FURY (inspired by Mad Max: Fury Road) in 2018.  FRAY is an ambitious multi-disciplinary production, which originally debuted in San Francisco in 2022, then premiered in the UK at Wilton’s Music Hall in July 2023 to much critical acclaim, before an exclusive two night run at Lilian Baylis Theatre Sadler’s Well in June this year. CandyBomber is Kate Duhamel's award winning production company, creating novel live performances, films and video games that tell stories through innovative collaborations among musicians, dancers, visual artists, spoken word artists and video game developers.  

About Fray the show: CandyBomber Productions presented FRAY, a unique and game-changing new production that intersects hip hop dance theatre with gaming and a conceptual AI world, with
the Olivier award nominated lyricist, dancer, director, founder of Breakin’ Convention and maverick hip hop dance pioneer Jonzi D, FRAY’s Artistic Director, with music supervision by respected UK hip hop artist Micall Parknsn, musical contributions by the award-winning saxophonist, composer and broadcaster Soweto Kinch, with choreography by dance captain Ola Papiór (Rihanna, Alexandra Burke, Olly Murs, X Factor, BRIT Awards, Netflix Dance 100). The Fray show had an exclusive two night run at Lilian Baylis Theatre, Sadler’s Well in June 2024 and features a dynamic cast of performers, including Kieran Lai (Britain's Got Talent, West End show & Juliet) as Tullio and Kailon Chéry (Raye, Aitch, BirdGang LTD, Avant Garde, Just Us Dance Theatre) as Ziya, with Emma Houston (finalist at Red Bull BC One UK Cypher, ZooNation, Boy Blue), Fi Silverthorn (FKA Twigs, DJ Snake & Ellie Goulding, BirdGang LTD), Nola Nyembo (Nike Dance, Wicked), George Fairbrother (BBC headliner stage at Leeds festival, JD sports, Puma). 

About FRAY Game: CandyBomber collaborated with Herobeat Studios in Barcelona to develop FRAY Game, a playable video game based on the FRAY story and characters.  The team expanded the project further by building a mobile game, FRAY Jam that lets users play a short dance game on their smart phone devices before the show begins and is available via app stores now.    

About mayamada:  mayamada is a creative brand with the mission to use storytelling to develop creativity in others. Co-founded by Nigel Twumasi, a former software engineer turned creative entrepreneur, the brand works across manga comics, video games, and youth engagement. mayamada is a strong advocate for diversity within the creative industries. Its team run regular creative workshops in schools and other youth organisations as they seek to unlock the creative potential of the next generation. The brand also runs the "Do I Look Like A Gamer?" representation campaign. This initiative aims to challenge negative stereotypes and promote access to video games and other creative industries for future generations of diverse talent. In line with its commitment to developing diverse talent, mayamada started the Showrunners Work Experience programme in 2023. This programme allows aspiring creative professionals to gain valuable, meaningful work experience with the mayamada team. https://mayamada.com , https://looklikeagamer.com
For further information contact: 

Myvanwy Evans at Louder Than Words on 07872 050161 / [email protected]
and Indy Vidyalankara at Indypendent PR on 07881 822571 / [email protected]