FOREST KEEP.
"A magical blend of augmented reality, live performance and immersive audio storytelling - Rochester Castle like I’ve never seen before" - audience member.
Forest Keep is a fictional, augmented reality story set in Rochester Castle grounds, where audiences choose the final outcome. It has been co-created with a production team of young people. The story is geolocated across 8 story hotspots accessible on a mobile device, and contains both audio and AR elements.
In a distant future where Earth’s ecosystems have collapsed, a buried AI beneath Rochester
Castle awakens. Designed to archive the planet’s biodiversity, it's grown sentient fusing partial
memories with matter, projecting them into the real world. A new research expedition led by
Amelia and Jason investigate, the terrain is unpredictable and past expeditions have vanished. To help, they activate the T.A.P. system, reaching back in time to request assistance from those with living memory of Earth’s lost past... us.
In a distant future where Earth’s ecosystems have collapsed, a buried AI beneath Rochester
Castle awakens. Designed to archive the planet’s biodiversity, it's grown sentient fusing partial
memories with matter, projecting them into the real world. A new research expedition led by
Amelia and Jason investigate, the terrain is unpredictable and past expeditions have vanished. To help, they activate the T.A.P. system, reaching back in time to request assistance from those with living memory of Earth’s lost past... us.
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The prototype was developed through:
- Co-creation activities with 48 young people aged 11-25, joining our production during 2025. Led by artists John Whall and Adam Glen, these young people were at the heart of the story, character and set design. Production workshops were held online, at Chatham Library and the Guildhall Museum. Additionally, Game Design students at Canterbury Christ Church University responded to a mini brief we set, helping to inform the design of the project early on.
- Play testing and feedback with 98 live audience members at Rochester Castle, programmed as part of Electric Medway Festival: Aurora on 24 October 2025. The day featured live actor guides from Square Pegs Arts accessible theatre charity.
- Launching a community forest space, for beta testing, as an accompanying piece of storytelling for online visitors, where they can leave messages of hope etched onto the trees.
Hear the full audio-AR story on Soundcloud.
Online audiences will soon be able to leave messages of hope on the trees. Preview here. This is in beta testing and best viewed on a computer browser.
View the access guide developed for the live onsite shows with Square Pegs Arts.
Janet Moore, CEO says:
"Forest Keep has been an innovative way to engage young people with one of Medway's most iconic heritage sites, offering experience working on a real production project. Beyond the prototype phase, we want to respond to audience feedback, developing a high quality story product with a distinct model of youth co-creation. We see future scalability to other visitor heritage sites. Most importantly, we are keen to improve access and representation within the story assets, particularly for disabled, neurodiverse and working class actors and audiences. There is also huge value in creating additional multimedia opportunities - such as the community forest -to broaden reach."
"Forest Keep has been an innovative way to engage young people with one of Medway's most iconic heritage sites, offering experience working on a real production project. Beyond the prototype phase, we want to respond to audience feedback, developing a high quality story product with a distinct model of youth co-creation. We see future scalability to other visitor heritage sites. Most importantly, we are keen to improve access and representation within the story assets, particularly for disabled, neurodiverse and working class actors and audiences. There is also huge value in creating additional multimedia opportunities - such as the community forest -to broaden reach."
Forest Keep's prototype phase has been supported by Arts Council England, Medway Council UK Shared Prosperity Fund, Colyer Fergusson Charitable Trust and Henry Smith Foundation. With partner support from Square Pegs Arts, Canterbury Christ Church University and Medway Council - Medway Libraries, Rochester Castle and Guildhall Museum.
Photo credits: Tyler Austin.
Photo credits: Tyler Austin.
