Kassinn / A Box In The Desert - Interactive VR Theatre
Imagine one day, you wake up inside an invisible box, unable to escape.
An engaging, but playful, interactive theatre performance with a live actor in virtual reality.
Will you trust this mysterious stranger? Or listen to the voice in your head, trying to get you out?
- WINNER : Most Amazing Game Award 2019, A MAZE. Festival 2019
- WINNER : Best Interactive Narrative Experience Raindance Film Festival 2019
- WINNER : Outstanding USA Premiere, San Diego International Fringe Festival 2019
- WINNER : Innovation in Performance, Stockholm International Fringe Festival 2018
- NOMINATED : Sproti Ársins, Gríman (Icelandic Theatre Awards)
- NOMINATED : GRAND PRIX, Stockholm International Fringe Festival 2018
- NOMINATED : GRAND PRIX, Stockholm International Fringe Festival 2018
- SOLD OUT SHOW : Reykjavík Fringe Festival 2018
One of the world's first pieces of its kind, the show explores what happens by smashing together future-thinking theatre forms with technology.
Created by Huldufugl (an Icelandic / British events company co-founded by myself and writer, actress & producer Nanna Gunnars), the piece is a mix of Virtual Reality, multiplayer gaming and interactive theatre.
The concept initially began as a short play by Nanna, written and performed in a conventional theatre in 2016 – after which I put forward the idea to re-create this piece in VR. We premiered the first version in Reykjavík in August 2017, and developed it for a longer run in July 2018, before taking the show to the Stockholm Fringe Festival in September 2018, and with more international dates planned for 2019!
One person at a time experiences the piece inside of a 2 x 2m physical space, whilst the actor performs in a separate physical space. For our first outing, we used the Xsens motion capture suit (expertly handled by PuppIT), but currently the show involves two Oculus Rift setups, sharing the same virtual space using multiplayer networking.
Show control is handled by an operator, who can observe and control both events in the world and the ‘voice in your head’ via a Qlab interface, and we have a beautiful LED box created by Swedish engineering magicians Svartljus
After touring the piece throughout Europe and to the USA, we went back into the rehearsal room to re-create the experience for more than one audience member at a time. The result is Hliðstætt Fólk / Parallel People, which you can read more about above.
- Performers : Nanna Gunnars, Ástþór Ágústsson
- Music : Iris Thorarins
- Sound : Ragnar Hrafnkelsson
- Concept Development : Alexander Dan Vilhjálmsson
- Additional 3D design, build : Jacob Andersson