The Retreat - Ethical an dramaturgical reflections upon VR Technologies in Performing Arts

Description

ABSTRACT
How do you tell a story for an audience In a fully virtual reality? Extended-Reality technologies (XR) put the spectator in the centre of the experience and adapt everything to the spectator’s perspective. The technologies changes not only the dramaturgical structure of the play but also blur the lines between fiction and reality. The bodily engagement combined with the behaviour known from computer games creates a new theatrical space open for potential carnivalesque and/or cathartic experiences through concrete actions by the spectator.
How do you keep the story progressing and multiple audiences engaged when they know that the world and characters around them and the action they are contributing to are not real? What happens in the working process when many of the known markers and workflows for collaboration in a theatrical setting are not present? The presentation is based on labs conducted at The Danish National School of Performing Arts in autumn 2021 and spring 2022 investigating how the digital form affects dramaturgical structure, perception and ethical consequences.

Period	20 Jun 2022
Event title	IFTR Conference: Shifting Centres: In the Middle of Nowhere
Event type	Conference
Location	Reykjavik, IcelandShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International