WORK / LIFE : VIRTUAL THEATER
COVID-19 HAS BEEN A REAL SHOWSTOPPER for the theater industry , and not in the standing-ovation sense of the word . Since last March , there have been no long lines wrapped around Broadway or West End street corners , no ushers corralling audiences to their seats . The stages of theaters , opera houses , and concert halls have gone dark around the world .
According to
a study by the Brookings Institution , the fine and performing arts industry in the United States saw a 50 % loss in jobs and a drop of more than $ 42 billion in sales from April to July 2020 alone . Globally , the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
lists the cultural and creative sector among one of the most affected by the crisis — right up there with tourism .
But as much as the pandemic has turned the theater world upside down , it has also opened up opportunities to experiment with virtual venues , creating new forms of live , immersive shows via
Zoom ,
virtual reality , and even mobile apps .
Not only do these avenues allow creators to
connect with homebound audiences and find an outlet during a stressful time , but they also empower artists to learn technical skills that will be relevant to a digitally enabled world long after the pandemic ends . There ’ s appetite for virtual performances , too ; one show that was livestreamed by
National Theatre at Home last April
racked up 2.6 million views in just one week .
“ People are really blown away by the agility of the storytelling , the interactivity , and their own sense of being part of a community ,” says Joanna Popper , HP ’ s Global Head of Virtual Reality for Location-Based Entertainment . “ Virtual shows are something hopeful and groundbreaking that people can participate in .”
In our new world , directors , producers , writers , and performers are using technology to prove that all the internet ’ s a stage , too .
Reimagining immersive theater in VR
Finding Pandora X , by director Kiira Benzing , illustrates how VR can be an ideal venue for immersive theater . The show , inspired by the Greek myth of Pandora ’ s box , won Best VR Immersive User Experience at the 2020
Venice International Film Festival — which itself was 100 % virtual .
At the start of the performance , the audience , which plays the role of the Greek chorus , arrives in avatar form on a cloud . Virtual usher avatars help audience members — or “ players ”— become acclimated to the experience , answering questions and directing them if they get lost .
As the show goes on , players and actors collaborate to solve challenges in the search for Pandora and to move the plot forward . At the end of the show , the audience learns to “ fly ” in the virtual world as a reward for their participation .
Behind the scenes , actors don
HP Reverb headsets and stage managers issue commands via HP workstations instead of the standard mic-and-clipboard setup .
Popper says it is “ thrilling ” to see HP technology bring such a creative vision to life . “ VR really enables an experience where audiences have the joy , hopefulness , and community of theater — even in a pandemic — from wherever we are around the world ,” she says .
For Benzing , experimenting with technology is an exciting way to make theater more inclusive , accessible , and , ultimately , more meaningful in a rapidly changing world .
“ As creators , we will continue to make stories and evolve ,” she says . “ We will build more worlds and more stages — they just might not look like they did before .”
Encouraging audiences to choose their own adventure It ’ s not just artists who benefit from navigating this new landscape . Audiences also get a great deal out of the interactive nature of the virtual stage , says David Carpenter , CEO of
Gamiotics and a Broadway and Off-Broadway producer for more than 20 years .
“ I remember playing video games as a kid and making decisions that affect the story and its outcome ,” he says . “ This idea that you as an audience member can have agency that changes the narrative — I love that .”
When the pandemic hit , Carpenter launched
Seize the Show , a live performance series powered by Gamiotics , a proprietary and interactive mobile technology , and viewable on Zoom .
“ It becomes a game ,” Carpenter says . “ The audience is participating in what ’ s happening every step of the way .”
Each Seize the Show performance is unique and open to multiple possible endings . In one iteration that ran during Halloween week — Camp Stabbawei , an ’ 80s-style slasher horror show — the audience members ’ goal was to stay “ alive ” as players got picked off one by one . Viewers could gather “ weapons ” from a digital menu as they might in a video game , and make decisions about where to go as the story progressed ; all choices affected the narrative and game play . Actors tuned in and performed live on-screen via Zoom .
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