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LIVE PERFORMANCE AND

GAMING TECHNOLOGY
COME TOGETHER TO
EXPLORE THE FUTURE FOR
AUDIENCES AND LIVE
THEATRE
LIVE PERFORMANCE AND GAMING TECHNOLOGY COME TOGETHER TO
EXPLORE THE FUTURE FOR AUDIENCES AND LIVE THEATRE

Dream – live, online performance leads the way in future audience experience

Performance: Friday 12 March - Saturday 20 March 2021

Booking: dream.online - booking opens 12 noon on Monday 8 February 2021

#DreamOnline21

Press images from rehearsal can be downloaded HERE

The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), in collaboration with Manchester

International Festival (MIF), Marshmallow Laser Feast (MLF) and Philharmonia
Orchestra will stage a live performance of Dream using motion capture as the
culmination of a major piece of cutting-edge research and development (R&D). The
pioneering collaboration explores how audiences could experience live performance in
the future in addition to a regular visit to a performance venue. Dream was due to open
in Spring 2020 as an in person and online live performance and has been recreated
during the pandemic for online audiences whilst theatres remain closed. The project is
one of four Audience of the Future Demonstrator projects, supported by the government
Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund which is delivered by UK Research and Innovation.

Dream is inspired by Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and gives a unique

opportunity for audiences to directly influence the live performance from wherever they
are in the world. Audiences will experience a new performance environment easily
accessed on their mobile, desktop or tablet via the dream.online website. The
performance
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The live performance is set in a virtual midsummer forest. Under the shadow of
gathering clouds at dusk, lit by the glimmer of fireflies, Puck acts as the guide.
Audiences are invited to explore the forest from the canopy of the trees to the roots,
meet the sprites, Cobweb, Mustardseed, Peaseblossom and Moth, and take an
extraordinary journey into the eye of a cataclysmic storm. Together with Puck they must
regrow the forest before the dawn. When day breaks, the spell breaks.

The 50-minute online event will be a shared experience between remote audience
members and the seven actors who play Puck and the sprites. Audiences can choose to
buy a £10 ticket to take part and at key points in the play directly influence the world
of the actors, or to view the performance for free. The ten Dream performances are
scheduled so that audiences across the world can join the event.

Gregory Doran, RSC Artistic Director said:

“What’s brilliant about Dream is the innovation at play. An audience member sitting at
home influencing the live performance from wherever they are – that’s exciting. It’s not
a replacement to being in the space with the performers but it opens up new
opportunities. By bringing together specialists in on-stage live performance with that of
gaming and music you see how much they have in common. For instance, the RSC's
deep understanding of scripted drama combined with Marshmallow Laser Feast’s
innovation in creative tech brings thrilling results.

“The story is king, whether you are a gamer, or an audience member. Stories haven’t
changed, but the way we engage audiences with them has. Shakespeare was our
greatest storyteller and it’s brilliant that we get the opportunity to use one of his plays to
discover what could be possible for live performance.”

Robin McNicholas, Director and Co-Founder of Marshmallow Laser Feast

added:

“Our focus has been on creating an experience with the natural world at its centre. It’s
a celebration of the magic of biodiversity brought to life by an incredible cast on this
adventurous virtual production. The team has created a work that explores new
narrative techniques, opening doors to a vast story-world that offers new perspectives
enabled by cutting edge technologies performed live on a motion capture stage.

“We hope audiences find a new and unique way to engage with immersive
storytelling. Virtual productions such as this offer new creative forms of expression and
opportunities for performers, musicians, artists, designers and creative coders”.

A major piece of research runs through the project led by i2media research at
Goldsmiths, University of London and NESTA, including the potential for making similar
online performances financially viable for the arts sector. All findings and research will
be shared with the wider UK cultural sector throughout 2021 after the live
performances are completed.

DREAM – A live, online performance set in a virtual midsummer forest.

Cast and creatives:

Robin McNicholas – Director

Pippa Hill – Script Creation

Robin Mc Nicholas & Pippa Hill – Narrative

Esa-Pekka Salonen – Music Director & Composer

Jesper Nordin – Composer, Interactivity Designer and Creative Advisor, Music

Sarah Perry – Movement Director

Maggie Bain (Cobweb), Phoebe Hyder (Understudy Puck and Mustardseed), Durassie
Kiangangu (Moth), Jamie Morgan (Peaseblossom), Loren O’Dair (Mustardseed), EM
Williams (Puck ), Edmund Wood (rehearsal assistant, Understudy Moth, Cobweb &
Peaseblossom).

THE TECHNOLOGY

Building on the technology used in the RSC’s 2016 ground-breaking production of The
Tempest, the first play to feature live performance capture rendered in Unreal Engine,
Dream harnesses live performance, virtual production and gaming technology. The
production is performed with seven actors in a specially created 7x7metre motion
capture volume created at the Guildhall in Portsmouth, supported by a team from the
University of Portsmouth. The performance space includes an LED backdrop which
displays the unreal world allowing performers to see their place and act within the
virtual environment.

Vicon motion capture cameras and state of the art facial rigging capture the movements
of the performers. This in turn drives the virtual avatars of each of the characters in real-
time through a traditional performance lighting desk into Epic Games’ Unreal Engine.
The live performance is mixed with pre-recorded animation sequences.

The audience is led by Puck (EM Williams) who takes them from the real world into the
digital world. As fireflies the audience can guide Puck through the forest at key points in
the play using the movement of their touchscreen, trackpad or mouse. The actors
perform and respond to audience interaction and direction making each performance
unique, as the audience will behave differently at each event.

A bespoke web-player has been created for Dream to enable the effective distribution
of real-time content from individual audience members to the Unreal Engine server and
back to the audience. This new software allows the level of dynamic, real-time
interaction working with a mass volume of users (up to 2000 per performance) in a live
environment.

James Golding, Technical Director - Character Tech, at Epic Games added:

“It has been such a great experience to support phenomenal collaborators, across
many different disciplines, on this ambitious project. It’s exciting to witness creators
exploring the wonderful possibilities ahead for live entertainment.”

THE MUSIC

Music is integral to the experience of Dream. An interactive symphonic score recorded

by the Philharmonia Orchestra will be manipulated in key points in the play in real-time
by the performers, who will create interactive music with their movements. The result will
be a living, dynamic soundtrack that adapts and interacts live with the narrative and the
pre-recorded orchestral tracks.

The installation will feature core classical repertoire and two contemporary orchestral
works – excerpts from Gemini, the latest composition by Esa-Pekka Salonen, the
Philharmonia’s Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor, and Ärr, composed by
Swedish composer Jesper Nordin. The music was recorded by the Orchestra,
conducted by Salonen on Friday 13 March 2020, the last full-scale orchestral
recording, involving 100 players, before the pandemic struck.

Alongside his growing recognition as a composer, Nordin is the creator of the ground-
breaking interactive music tool Gestrument, giving parts of Dream an interactive musical
layer. Gestrument allows the performers to generate music from their movements. This
real-time generated music can be shaped by the performers but will always be in
perfect sync with the pre-recorded orchestral score.

Esa-Pekka Salonen, Principal Conductor & Artistic Advisor, commented:

“Immersive technologies are going to change the way we compose, perform and
experience music, and I believe we need to reimagine the symphony orchestra for this
new landscape. This is primarily an R&D project – to reimagine immersive technology
for live performance – where the creative process itself is one of the most valuable
aspects of the whole project.

“Dream has brought us together with some of the world’s leading theatre practitioners,
VR world-builders and game designers to reimagine storytelling. The collaboration has
moved from the stage to the real-time games engine. As a composer, it has allowed us
to reimagine composition for a new landscape where the audience has agency, and
the performers can become part of a living, dynamic score that is integral to the live
performance.”

Talking about the project, Prof. Andrew Chitty, Challenge Director, Audience of
the Future, UKRI, said:

“Dream is an extraordinary achievement by the RSC and its partners but also a
demonstration of how entirely new audience experiences are created as immersive and
digital technologies become integrated into performance. When we set out the
Audience of the Future Challenge no-one would have predicted this entirely digital
performance of Dream; it goes far further in putting new technologies at the heart of
performance than we had dared to hope. It’s also stands as a beacon showing what
our world class performance and creative technology companies can do given the right
support for Research and Innovation.”

Gabrielle Jenks, Digital Director at MIF concluded:

“Audience of the Future has been an invaluable space for world-leading organisations
to consider the future of virtual production and understand the opportunities and
challenges of working with real-time technologies. From DYSTOPIA987, Skepta’s
extraordinary mixed-reality experience created for MIF19, to Dream, the learnings from
these ambitious and collective approaches to live performance will help us imagine
new boundary-pushing ways to present work in The Factory, MIF’s future home being
built in the heart of Manchester.

Ends

For further information please contact:

For the RSC: Kate Evans, Media and Communications Manager

kate.evans@rsc.org.uk 07920 244434

For the Philharmonia Orchestra: maisie@breadandbutterpr.uk, 07786 075 979

For Manchester International Festival: Oscar Lister, Press Officer

oscar.lister@mif.co.uk 07494688523

Notes to Editors:

Covid protocols

All rehearsals and preparation for Dream have taken place under strict Covid secure
protocols.

Performance details:

Friday 12 March to Saturday 20 March 2021

Friday 12th March 11am (performance times all GMT)

Saturday 13th March 8pm

Sunday 14th March 6pm

Tuesday 16th March 7pm

Wednesday 17th March 2am

Thursday 18th March 10am

Thursday 18th March 7pm

Friday 19th March 1pm

Saturday 20th March 10am

Saturday 20th March 8pm

Booking: dream.online - Booking opens from 12 noon on Monday 8 February 2021

Dream is brought to you by the Audience of the Future Consortium. The project is
funded within the Audience of the Future programme by UK Research and Innovation
through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund.

Audience of the Future consortium - Led by the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) the
Audience of the Future consortium includes De Montfort University · Epic Games · i2
Media Research Limited · Intel Studios · Magic Leap · Manchester International Festival
· Marshmallow Laser Feast · Nesta · Phi Centre · Philharmonia Orchestra · Punchdrunk ·
University of Portsmouth· The Space.

Dream is generously supported by Miranda Curtis CMG, the Sidney E. Frank

Foundation, Audrey Mandela and Sean Phelan, and is an EPIC MegaGrants recipient.

The Audience of the Future Advisory Group includes:

Clare Reddington: Advisory Group Chair and RSC Board Member – CEO, Watershed

Myriam Achard: Chief, New Media Partnerships and Public Relations, Phi Centre in
Montreal

Professor Genevieve Bell: Distinguished Professor and Director 3A Institute, Australian

National University and Senior Fellow at Intel Corporation

Rachna Bhasin: EQ Partners - Founder/CEO // Pacifica Investments – Founder

Ruthie Doyle: Director, Emerging Media, Interdisciplinary Program (IDP), Sundance
Institute

Hilary Knight: Digital Director, Tate

Ben Lumsden: Business Development Manager, Unreal Enterprise, Epic Games

Fiona Morris: CEO and Creative Director of the Space

Kim-Leigh Pontin: Creative Director at Nexus Studios

Zillah Watson: Immersive Executive Producer and former head of BBC VR Hub

Diana Williams: Founder/Producer of Kinetic Energy Entertainment

New writing at the RSC is generously supported by The Drue and H.J. Heinz II
Charitable Trust

Audience of the Future:

The project has been funded as one of the four major Demonstrator projects within
the Audience of the Future Challenge. Each demonstrator was charged with
advancing the state of the art in technology, audience experience and business model
for a key sector of the UK’s world leading creative industries: moving image, visitor
experience, sports broadcasting and performance (Dream). With immersive and digital
technologies set to transform the way we make, distribute and consume cultural and
creative experiences. Audience of the Future provides a coordinated programme of
Research and Development to ensure that the UK can become a world leader in this
new field of creative technology. Audience of the Future is delivered by UK Research
and Innovation as part of Government’s Industrial Strategy.

UK Research and Innovation has the mission to convene, catalyse and invest to build
a thriving, inclusive research and innovation system that connects discovery to
prosperity and public good across the UK with a vision to ensure the UK maintains its
world-leading position in research and innovation for the benefit of all.

Live Performance Demonstrator partners:

The Institute of Creative Technologies (IOCT), De Montfort University is

concerned with the transdisciplinary practice and theory of creative technologies,
bringing together technologists, creative practitioners and researchers to develop truly
innovative practice. They create opportunities to discover and document new
knowledge in the field of creative technologies, synthesising research with digital
computing, creative practice, science and engineering.

Gestrument is a Swedish music-tech startup with the ambition to change the way we
interact with music. The patented technology allows a composer, hobby musician or
any music consumer to play within the rules of music in many different ways – in
concert as a digital instrument, as an interactive layer on top of recorded music, in
games or in other interactive music applications. Pitch ranges, rhythm, scales, duration,
legato, velocity and other parameters in music can be controlled with any input device;
movement, touch, synths or game events for example, all generated in real-time. With
the praised consumer apps Gestrument PRO and Scalegen users can experiment with
music-making on their iOS device. www.gestrument.com

i2 media research, based at Goldsmiths University of London is an expert

consumer insight, user experience research and strategy consultancy delivering rigorous
research. They have completed over 250 commissions in the commercial, public and
third sectors.

Intel Studios makes the most amazing experiences of the future possible. Intel's
innovations expand the reach and power of computing in personal devices and
enterprise servers, the Cloud, make the Internet of Things smart and connected, and
help ensure the security of our digital lives. The work of the company’s more than
100,000 employees transforms businesses, propels new discoveries and improves
human experiences.

Magic Leap Magic Leap’s mission is to harmonize people and technology to create a
better, more unified world. Magic Leap is a team of creatives and technologists
building a lightweight, wearable computer that seamlessly blends the digital and
physical worlds. Headquartered in Plantation, Florida, with offices in Los Angeles,
Sunnyvale, Seattle, Austin, Dallas, Zurich, Wellington and Tel Aviv.

Manchester International Festival (MIF) was founded as the world’s first festival of
original, new work and special events and is an artist-led festival, staged every two
years in Manchester, reflecting the spectrum of performing arts, digital innovation,
visual arts and popular culture. The next Festival takes place 1 - 18 July 2021. MIF will
also run The Factory, the new world-class cultural space currently being built in the
heart of Manchester. Attracting up to 850,000 visitors annually, The Factory will
commission, present and produce a year-round programme, featuring new work from
the world’s greatest artists and offering a space to make, explore and experiment.

Marshmallow Laser Feast (MLF) is an experiential art collective working in the

liminal space between art, technology and the natural world. The collective creates
specific visual languages that expand perception and inform our lived experiences.
Their approach has earned them a reputation for creating the seemingly impossible—for
producing experiences that push boundaries, redefine expectations and excite
audiences worldwide. Previous work includes the acclaimed In the Eyes of the Animal
(Wired Award for Innovation in Experience Design) and other mixed reality works
including: Treehugger (Tribeca Film Festival Storyscapes Award 2017 & VR Arles
 Award 2018) and We Live in an Ocean of Air (British Animation Award 2020)

Nesta - a global innovation foundation, backing new ideas to tackle the big challenges
of our time. They use knowledge, networks, funding and skills – working in partnership
with others, including governments, businesses and charities. They are a UK charity,
working globally.

The Phi Centre is a multidisciplinary cultural organisation that cultivates all aspects of
creation, development, production and dissemination. Phi is at the intersection of art,
film, music, design and technology. Headquartered at the Phi Centre in Montreal,
Canada, Phi was created by Director and Founder Phoebe Greenberg.

Philharmonia Orchestra a world-class symphony orchestra for the 21st century. It is a

digital pioneer, using technology to reach new audiences and build new revenue
streams. It has created award-winning web sites, an iPad app, and immersive
experiences. They applied the idea of ‘Stepping inside the Orchestra’ to VR, having
created four VR films to date. Beethoven’s Fifth, commissioned by Google in partnership
with NASA, won a Raindance Film Festival Award for Best VR Music Experience.

Punchdrunk and Punchdrunk International has pioneered a game-changing form of

theatre in which roaming audiences experience epic storytelling inside sensory
theatrical worlds. Blending classic texts, physical performance, award-winning design
installation and unexpected sites, the company's infectious format rejects the passive
obedience usually expected of audiences. Punchdrunk International produces artistic
works created by Felix Barrett and the Punchdrunk International creative team. The
Company produces a selection of Punchdrunk’s commercial productions for national
and international audiences. It also creates innovation-led partnerships with selected
organisations on a bespoke basis.

Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) creates theatre at its best, made in Stratford-
upon-Avon and shared around the world. We produce an inspirational artistic
programme each year, setting Shakespeare in context, alongside the work of his
contemporaries and today’s writers. Everyone at the RSC - from actors to armourers,
musicians to technicians - plays a part in creating the world you see on stage. Our
productions begin life at our Stratford workshops and theatres, and we bring them to
the widest possible audience through our touring, residencies, live broadcasts and
online activity. We have trained generations of the very best theatre makers and
continue to nurture the talent of the future. We want everyone to enjoy a lifelong
relationship with Shakespeare and live theatre. Registered charity no. 212481
www.rsc.org.uk.

The Faculty of Creative and Cultural Industries (FCCI), Portsmouth University

encompasses teaching, research and innovation in the Creative Arts, Technologies and
Performance. It has purpose built technical facilities, lab and performance spaces, and
a specialism in Virtual and Augmented Reality, Motion Capture, Film, TV and
Broadcast. Research focuses on the convergence of these technologies and their
creative application.

The Space launched by ACE and the BBC, is a digital and broadcast development
agency supporting the UK arts, cultural and heritage sectors to realise their strategic
digital ambitions.

Unreal Engine Epic Games’ Unreal Engine is the world’s most open and advanced
real-time 3D tool. Creators across games, film, television, architecture, automotive and
transportation, advertising, live events, and training and simulation choose Unreal to
deliver cutting-edge content, interactive experiences, and immersive virtual worlds.
Follow @UnrealEngine and download Unreal for free at unrealengine.com.

Arts Council England (ACE)

is the national development body for arts and culture across England, working to enrich
people’s lives. We support a range of activities across the arts, museums and libraries –
from theatre to visual art, reading to dance, music to literature, and crafts to collections.
Great art and culture inspires us, brings us together and teaches us about ourselves and
the world around us. In short, it makes life better. Between 2018 and 2022, we will
invest £1.45 billion of public money from government and an estimated £860 million
from the National Lottery to help create these experiences for as many people as
possible across the country. www.artscouncil.org.uk

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