Game game game game game game. Yes.

Having a game for a play... It's like roberto's theatre tradition. Who knows where it can lead to? but so far it has been great, and really make our plays stand out.
What I reckon the games do to our plays is take the focus away from the acting and story... content is good enough as its coherent.
It reminds me of a game, where you have priority stats and after you reach the optimum for the higher priority stat, you then put everything into the next stat.
As for the play, we only need to put enough to the story to where it is decent enough, and then put everything into the game. And design elements. But today we are talking about the game. Game is our second priority, when we reach the optimum with the game, we then put everything into the design.

The game of our plays make it fun for the audience. Or at least makes them have to participate and think a little for once. We do however try to make it obvious enough so that the audience can understand. If an spectator fails to understand the game, since it's our strong point, we fail to entertain. After all, our aim is to entertain the audience.

Moving away from the audience, and going to our play itself. It has to run around something, every play rotates around an idea. But if you have 2 ideas, then you would have your play orbiting in a binary solar system... and as far as we know those harvest no life. You can't satisfy both needs, you can go 100% story, and 100% play, because the game may limit the story at some points, and the story may limit the game at some points. Conventions are what make both collude.

But as a counter argument, the movie Hero provides a game that rotates around its story. However, the story does not reach a full potential as the game and design concept it provides. aesthetics over story. visuals over content. content over visual. Seems we have to pick 1 or the other.
But What if you go 50/50 and then make it bigger, and powerful, egocentric, awesome, hyper-realistic, you act like an oligopoly, instead of competing with price, you compete with other other things.

Can you make it powerful enough? I don't know. That is an answer that may come from experience.
This is a matter to keep thinking about for the end of year presentation... or maybe not. Maybe there is no answer. Whatever it is, we must now focus on the game for this particular play. And i can't do more than wonder. What effect would a play give without its game? What would people think of split without the split? What would people think about this play without its game? Are this play prepared to be presented without the game?