Tag: VR

REVIEW: Hear. Speak. See. | Expial Atrocious

Posted RuthEJWestLeave a commentPosted in Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Reviews, Theatre

Aug 16-30 | On Demand | Fringe Player | Get Tickets

 

Is this the dinner party from hell… or is it limbo? Is that your conscience talking to you or is it so bizarre that, in a strange twist of fate, it might just be real.

Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland meets Stephen Berkoff’s Metamorphosis in this newly devised production from Midlands-based company Expial Atrocious.

Half delirium, half horror movie and filmed through a fish-eye lens from the point of view of you, the guest, you’re immediately immersed into this twisted tale.

Faye, Ez and Nic give carefully examine how to characterise the concepts of Hear, Speak and See no evil through different dynamics and distinctive, individualised performances whilst serving this doomed driver their last super.

A truly original show executed to the freakiest and most fantastic standard.

 

The Arts Business Top Tips:

  • This play experiments with cutting edge technology. I imagine it has been designed to work in a virtual reality headset. When cutting off senses so the tea party is all you can see and the creepy dialogue and eerie effects are all you can hear the action can only be enhanced. The perceived glitches to different areas of the room would add to the paranormal feel of the piece.
  • Another added bonus is the fact it can be directly streamed to headsets in your home and create the same if not a better experience than if you were actually on location. This has a huge budget impact as once it has been filmed the costs can be kept relatively low for online, on-demand streaming.

Dream: An Interactive Theatre Experience in your Living Room

Posted RuthEJWestLeave a commentPosted in Entertainment, Technology, Theatre

Thank God this pandemic happened in the 2020s! Even 10 years ago we didn’t have the same level of technology we do now, where we can communicate through images, text and video to anyone from wherever we are in the world. Such is the beauty of the evolution of the Smartphone!

Utilising this wizardry alongside technology evolved from their 2016 performance of ‘The Tempest’ the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), in collaboration with Manchester International Festival (MIF), Marshmallow Laser Feast (MLF) and Philharmonia Orchestra, brings ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ directly to your home through VR.

Dream gives a unique opportunity for audiences to directly influence the live performance from wherever they are in the world. Audiences will experience a new performance environment easily accessed on their mobile, desktop or tablet via the dream.online website. The performance uses the latest gaming and theatre technology together with an interactive symphonic score that responds to the actors’ movement during the show.

The live performance is set in a virtual midsummer forest. Under the shadow of gathering clouds at dusk, lit by the glimmer of fireflies, Puck acts as the guide. Audiences are invited to explore the forest from the canopy of the trees to the roots, meet the sprites, Cobweb, Mustardseed, Peaseblossom and Moth, and take an extraordinary journey into the eye of a cataclysmic storm. Together with Puck, they must regrow the forest before the dawn.  When day breaks, the spell breaks.

The 50-minute online event will be a shared experience between remote audience members and the seven actors who play Puck and the sprites. Audiences can choose to buy a £10 ticket to take part and at key points in the play directly influence the world of the actors, or to view the performance for FREE.

At the moment, the only way for our artistic work to reach an audience is through the magic of the internet, and though no one is looking to replace attending artistic events in real life the creative industries are being forced to explore alternative options.  Now is the time to reach out to tech or design companies and create shared experiences that showcase both your work and theirs in a mind-blowing collaboration.

So, get researching tech and design companies in your area and reach out. If you’re Midlands based (like me) you have The Silicon Spa right on your doorstep! That is one of the largest hubs of video game designers in the UK hidden in the rural Victorian bath town of Leamington.

And don’t be scared!

If you have a great idea, reach out to these kinds of companies and figure out what’s possible. The worst they can say is no. And the best? Having cooperate sponsorship and starting a creative revolution from your home office!

Have you done any awesome work with companies like these? If the answer is yes tell us in our comments! We’d love to hear about them!