Screen on screen, on screen It’s been a compelling week. So after a week being in a real room with real people being augmented by XR tech where are we at? Major observations: -I’ve loved the new perspectives via viewpoints this new immersive technology presents. Being able to access positions, insight, data or detail is insightful and creates new ways to experience not only Shakespeare but live performance. -Might this form of tech to create backdrops or worlds in which the a

Directors image from inside the Engine Room Cards on the table – I am hugely sceptical of video, audio visual, augmented and virtual reality in theatre. I’ve seen, especially since the pandemic, the increase of largely superficial unnecessary and most dangerously; video design technology that interferes, disrupts and destroys the relationship between performer and audience. But do I think for a minute a writer like Shakespeare wouldn’t have used all and every piece of technol

. Following on from our discussions yesterday about using AR not as non-diegetic scenery but as a tool within the world of the play, we jumped ahead in the text a couple pages to a moment of military planning between Brutus and Cassius. Brutus favours one tactic, Cassius another, and both attempt to illustrate their points by bringing up immersive battlefield maps. This integrated well. After only a quick practice, it ceased to feel fiddly and became just another prop we coul

We began the day by populating our set with virtual assets: guns, graffitied walls, Caesar’s bust. A technical issue emerged early on... With the current state of the tech, an actor can’t walk in front of a virtual asset without it looking pretty jarring to the audience. They can only pass behind. Our first run involved two audience members wearing headsets, experiencing the virtual world overlaid on the real one. Brutus and I occasionally gestured toward assets—a war report

Mylo McDonald in our 2023 production of The Changeling taken by Charlie Flin What an amazing space! Playing the argument/tent scene between Cassius and Brutus in the grand rooms of the Old Royal Naval College was deeply immersive. It felt right – like the kind of space where such a quarrel might take place if war were to break out in London. In performance, I discovered something striking. Whatever ulterior ambition or ego Cassius might carry at this point, the loss of Brutus

Mylo McDonald in our 2023 production of The Changeling taken by Charlie Flint This workshop is the first time in my career that I’ve truly had no idea what to expect — beyond the usual surprises you open yourself up to as an actor. I’m familiar with the Lazarus text process and a huge fan of Julius Caesar, but when it comes to AR and VR, I’m something of a luddite. (I’ve only used it two or three times). I’ve often had mixed feelings about productions that rely heavily on scr

Immersive Arts is a new funding and support programme for UK-based artists, designed to help them develop their art by using immersive technologies. Artists at all levels of experience are invited to apply, to explore, experiment or expand how they work with this exciting field of practice.