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2008 ORION Learning Award of Merit Recipient
Alice (Experiments) in Wonderland: A Convergent Telematic Performance
Drama departments at the University of Waterloo, the University of Central Florida and Bradley University in Illinois followed the fabled rabbit hole to a 21st century Wonderland where technology and performance merged to create a theatrical spectacle.
This year, more than 100 actors, designer, directors, video artists and technicians from the three campuses collaborated to jointly produce an interactive retelling of Lewis Carroll’s classic tale of Alice in Wonderland.
The 90-minute performance saw performers from each school simultaneously acting together in front of three local live audiences by using the latest in digital sound and video transfer (DVTS) and high-speed advanced distribution technologies, like ORION, CANARIE and Internet2 to bridge the hundreds of kilometres between them.
Alice (Experiments) in Wonderland is the second major collaboration by the three universities, but the first in which all three performed simultaneously in front of three live audiences. In 2007 the group produced The Adding Machine, which won the 2007 Internet2 IDEA Award.
Alice (Experiments) in Wonderland pushed the technology and creativity envelope further by having 11 performers at each location. The student cast gained a unique opportunity to work in “four dimensions”: engaging the live audience in their respective home theatres; performing with the other actors on their home stage; acting with virtual scene partners from remote locations projected onto screens; and, finally, interacting with the various cameras placed throughout the stage to address their remote audiences and actors.
The project was co-produced and co-directed by Prof. Gerd Hauck, Chair of University of Waterloo’s Department of Drama and Speech Communication, where students, staff and faculty provided sound and lighting design and handled all video collages. It also designed some of the avatars, and was responsible for storyboarding and camera operation. Other aspects of the performance—like acting, stage management, publicity and outreach—were collaborated on equally with the university’s partners.
All three universities have taken their collaborations further by initiating projects, such as a student playwright exchange. The cutting-edge work done in producing Alice (Experiments) in Wonderland has also been instrumental in securing funding from government granting agencies and business partners for other projects.
ORION connectivity was essential in eliminating the geographic boundaries between the three schools and, having learned the feasibility of such a project, Bradley University and the University of Waterloo have begun the process of planning for a theatrical production on genocide awareness, called Voices, with performers on all six continents.
Back to the 2008 Awards Winners page
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