The week that was…
Another week in the can, and despite the ongoing pandemic, there’s more going on than any one person can keep up with. Which is where EITW comes in.
In this edition: the podcast, reviews, The Under Presents: Tempest, Disney World reopens, Judge Dredd in London and more!
Let’s get to it!
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ON THE PODCAST THIS WEEK
This week Tender Claws co-founder Samantha Gorman returns to talk about the latest evolution of The Under Presents: an expansion that takes the form of a live-actor driven participatory production of Shakespeare’s Tempest.
Along for the ride are producer and assistant director Eli Bork, and actor Kelley Pierre — who some members of our LA audience may recognize from her live-action immersive work.
FROM THE WIRE: SHOWS, EVENTS, & EXPERIENCES
We’re still running the Newswire here at NoPro while the public beta of Everything Immersive shakes out. To get your work on the Newswire, submit at EverythingImmersive.com
Definitely Not Clue
An ambitious, interactive murder mystery musical adventure developed for Twitch
Denver: Gnome Away From Home
Follow Fibblesticks Dabbledoo into ungnome territory
Ladies of Versailles
Discover 18th century France from the comfort of your own home
New Haven, CT / Online: Escape New Haven
Experience Before Moonrise, The Crypt, The Gallery, and more
Whisperlodge Virtual
Join us online to do nothing!
The True History of the Tragic Life & Triumphant Death of Julia Pastrana
Amphibian Stage revisits a tale of human rights in an innovative auditory experience
Frauenschlläechterei
A German lawyer in 1933 Hollywood tries to make Brigette Helm an American star
Roundabout
6 characters. 3 bodies. 1 meddlesome audience. So very many things could go wrong.
The Prism
Make choices & define your journey in an on-screen out-of-this-word adventure through The Prism
The Delegation
An international immersive experience to play online from Coney
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REVIEWS & FIRST IMPRESSIONS
The biggest happy surprise this week was definitely the arrival of The Under Presents: Tempest, the first expansion for the Oculus Quest virtual reality game to create a standalone ticketed experience which put their acting corps front and center. We kicked off the week with our first impressions of the bold new experiment which pairs patrons up with veteran immersive actors for a participatory production of the Bard’s tale of exiles, spirits, love, and magic. It’s one of the most interesting projects to come across our desk all year. In fact, it’s getting so much buzz that you’ll hear more about in a minute.
On the other end of the spectrum: we didn’t find a lot to love about Living Lucid Creative’s second phone based show Secrets.
Distant Shores, Locally Sourced. At Home With ‘The Under Presents: Tempest’ (First Impressions)Are we entering a ‘Diamond Age’ of ractives?noproscenium.comSome ‘Secrets’ Shouldn’t Be Shared (Review)Living Lucid Creative’s latest horror production hits the skidsnoproscenium.com
News From around the Immersiverse
That buzz about The Under Presents: Tempest? Part of that is coming from The New York Times, which ran a Critic’s Notebook piece this week about the emerging hybrid form that mixes VR and immersive theatre. The must-read by Alexis Soloski touches on The Under Presents, Dr. Crumb’s School For Disobedient Pets, and more. After years and years of working in the space where these two worlds meet its beyond exciting to see the intersection talked about in the Times.
The technology that fuels virtual worlds with real performances isn’t standing still either. Epic Games announced this week that Unreal Engine, which is one of the backbone technologies behind both AAA video games and a fair chunk of VR, can now use an iPhone to do motion capture of facial expressions in real time. Couple that with all the work we talked about happening in Epic’s Fortnite last week and word that Sony just invested $250 million in Epic Games for a minority stake and it’s fairly clear that Epic Games and Unreal aren’t just well positioned to be a force in how digital immersive evolves, they’re increasingly the ones to watch from both a core technology and a digital worlds standpoint.
Here in the real world, or what passes for it these days, Walt Disney World is reopening with a host of new safety measures in place to try and mitigate transmission of COVID-19. The plans were put in place weeks ago, before Florida experienced a massive spike in cases which is now resulting in a spike in deaths. To say the timing is controversial would be underselling it, but there are those in the theme park enthusiast community making the case Disney is basically damned if they do, damned if they don’t. And then there are some things about the whole deal that just seem totally off.
(Where do we stand? We think now is not the time to reopen anything, and that state and Federal governments should be doing everything they crush this thing so that America can have an outcome closer to New Zealand’s. Or at least Japan or Europe’s.)
In the theatre world, the ongoing discussion of the Black Lives Matter movement has evolved into calls for a new social contract that addresses the inequities in the art. The document “BIPOC Demands For White American Theatre” was released this week, featuring extensive and detailed demands across professional and educational disciplines. The 31-page document is available for download.
Because of the ongoing pandemic, Wildrence — the performing arts incubator in Manhattan—is shutting the doors of their pilot space in the Lower East Side. It’s not totally unexpected, given the current financial environment, but it is still a blow to see the space that Jae and Yvonne brought into existence have to close up. The team says this is just the end of a chapter, and that Wildrence is “a community not just a physical space.” We look forward to that holding firm and true.
In the “let’s have something to look forward to” department: Judge Dredd will be patrolling London next year. Um. Wait. That might not be good news… unless you’re a fan of the character which first made his appearance in the pages of 2000 AD, the British sci-fi comics magazine before becoming a (bad) Sylvester Stallone movie and a then a (good) Karl Urban flick. He also teamed up with Batman a bunch in the 90’s which is how we know him best. Judge Dredd Uprising promises to be a two-hour long immersive attraction, which Time Out (mistakenly, apparently) called an escape room in its headline. It looks to be an incredibly elaborate build. Makes you think what else is waiting for us in the Time After™.
Opportunities: Professional & Educational
Odyssey Works — Experience Design Project Incubator
Application due August 1.
- 4 week course focused on developing a project of your own
- Join a carefully selected cohort of talented people designing dynamic new experiences
- Remote sessions will connect you with a diverse community of creators from various parts of the world
- $2500; payment plans and partial scholarships available
- Starting in late September 2020
SOS Theatre Fest: Call For Entries!
Deadline: July 14th, 7PM
The MAIN in Santa Clarita is seeking entries for its upcoming 8-week online theatre festival that will feature plays within the theme of Social Media. Theatre companies and individuals from different cities, states, and countries are encouraged to submit entries, there are no restrictions in location.
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