LIVING THE DREAM – EXPLORING THE FUTURE FOR AUDIENCES AND LIVE THEATRE
#DreamOnline21
Over 65,000 people across 92 countries watched the premiere of Dream during the ten live performances in March. Created by the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) in collaboration with Manchester International Festival (MIF), Marshmallow Laser Feast (MLF) and Philharmonia Orchestra the performance used motion capture as the culmination of a major piece of cutting-edge research and development (R&D) exploring how audiences could experience live performance in the future.
A recorded version of Dream is now available to view on the dream.online platform, which was created for the Audience of the Future project. Audiences explore the world of the virtual midsummer forest and the production harnesses live performance, virtual production and gaming technology. Under the shadow of gathering clouds at dusk, lit by the glimmer of fireflies, Puck acts as the guide as audiences take an extraordinary journey into the eye of a cataclysmic storm. The pioneering collaboration explores how audiences could experience live performance in the future in addition to a visit to a performance venue. Audience reaction to the live premiere included:
“Something very different and very cool. I could tell a lot of thought, hard work, and love went into it.”
“Exciting to imagine the future prospects for this kind of work.”
“It was a phenomenal experience. I felt connected to the rest of the audience even though I could not see anyone physically.”
Created under strict Covid protocols the company of seven actors worked alongside motion capture specialists, special audio designers, 3D Houdini artists and movement director to make Dream. The project is one of four Audience of the Future Demonstrator projects, supported by the government Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund which is delivered by UK Research and Innovation. A major piece of research runs throughout the project led by i2media research at Goldsmiths, University of London and NESTA. One focus of the research is the potential for making similar online performances financially viable for the arts sector. All findings and research are currently being analysed and will be released in September and shared with the wider UK cultural sector.
Cast and creatives: Robin McNicholas – Director, Pippa Hill – Script Creation, Robin Mc Nicholas & Pippa Hill – Narrative, Esa-Pekka Salonen – Music Director & Composer, Jesper Nordin – Composer, Interactivity Designer and Creative Advisor, Music, Sarah Perry – Movement Director
Maggie Bain (Cobweb), Phoebe Hyder (Understudy Puck and Mustardseed), Durassie Kiangangu (Moth), Jamie Morgan (Peaseblossom), Loren O’Dair (Mustardseed), EM Williams (Puck), Edmund Wood (rehearsal assistant, Understudy Moth, Cobweb & Peaseblossom).
