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Latest items? Unedited? Fringe Report Uncut
Actor / Virtual Actor
Work in progress report
Verdict: Live & computer action
Actor/Virtual Actor is a one-off collection of dramatised poems and sketches performed by a trio of actors and the virtual actors of the title. Computer generated (CG) characters - including a twinkling android woman and a floating head with an identity crisis - are let out of their laptops and onto screens to play with the real actors.
It is an ensemble performance and demonstration by The Vasulkas and Theatre of All Possibilities. It coincides with October Gallery's 25th Anniversary celebrations.
There is a current theatrical obsession with video projection. It often seems to be thrown in without much consideration - particularly about how it will integrate with the other elements of the production, the lighting, the set and most importantly the performers.
In this production, director Kathelin Gray is trying to get to grips with what exactly these virtual actors can do, what they can’t, and how best to interact with them. The results - although not yet adding up to a production - are certainly food for thought.
The most successful interaction is a tender duet between a playful young woman (actor Pepper Binkley) and a projected character.
The character consists only of a head and neck. Its identity and shape constantly shifts - from old man to stern-looking woman to young black guy; from a head of human proportions, to a vast pyramid; to a spiky alien shape more like a medieval weapon of war than a living creature.
Seeing the tentative relationship develop between woman and strange vision is oddly touching. It hints at how effective these virtual characters could be in a physical, dance-based context.
What is less effective at this point is the dialogue between the actors and CG characters. They do not quite operate in real time yet, so the timing of their lines leaves something to be desired. With meticulous and lengthy rehearsal, no doubt this impression can be overcome.
Kathelin Gray is enthusiastic about the possibilities of the CG characters playing non-human roles. As she says, she’s never been convinced by a woman in a gold frock playing a goddess.
It will be interesting to see what develops from these early experiments.
***
Credits: For Theatre of All Possibilities:
Kathelin Gray - Director. Chris Shaw - Virtual Character Invertor and Sculptor. Rob Shaw - Video Effects. Gregg Duncan - Actor. Pepper Binkley - Actor. Peter Marinker - Actor. Eibes - Stage Captain. Laser van Thillo - Technical Director, Camera Operator. John Allen - Co-Producer. For
The Vasulkas: Steina Vasulka - Fire and Water Art and Projection Design. Woody Vasulka - Projection Design. October Gallery: Chili Hawes - Director.
END
(c) Kitty Winter 2004
reviewed Saturday 13 November 2004 / October Gallery Studio Theatre
Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2012
www.fringereport.com
