Theatre in Virtual Reality

Virtual reality glasses instead of a visit to the theatre: more and more theatres are trying out new digital possibilities for their productions - including in Switzerland.

Goethe's "Erlkönig" is the latest production by the Zwickau Puppet Theatre in Germany, but not a single puppeteer will be on stage at the premiere.

For the first time, the small team has moved a play into virtual reality (VR). The guests are fitted with VR glasses in an auditorium, which catapult them into a clearing. Around them, they encounter a father and son, seemingly within their grasp, as well as eerily beautiful animal figures made of twigs and bones. "This is an adventure for us," says director Monika Gerboc. "We hope to attract new audiences to contemporary puppet theatre."

As in Zwickau, more and more theatres are exploring the artistic possibilities of the digital and thus opening up new spaces, just like our Reporting shows. This is no longer just about streaming conventional productions on the internet, as many theatres did at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. Instead, plays are being created specifically for digital and new narrative styles are being tried out.

Digitalisation creates new opportunities

Staging with digital means has received an incredible boost, states the President of the German Theatre Association, Carsten Brosda. The Hamburg Senator for Culture is convinced that digitalisation is creating new opportunities to reach and appeal to audiences. "On the other hand, new forms of artistic expression are also emerging." Digital theatre can complement classical theatre, but also create a completely new theatre experience.

One example is hybrid productions in which, in addition to the action on stage, the audience in the auditorium puts on VR glasses for individual scenes, as in the opera "Orfeo ed Euridice" at the Augsburg State Theatre. However, ballets, concerts and theatre plays are also offered completely virtually in 360-degree perspective, such as the Zwickau "Erlkönig". With VR glasses, which can be ordered by post on loan with the ticket, the audience can watch the plays at home or in class at school. Other stories are told live on the internet, such as the adaptation of Goethe's "Werther" by the collective "punktlive".

Interactive formats are also being trialled in which the audience can even influence the progress of the action. Or audience and actors can meet entirely in a collective virtual space, the so-called metaverse, as in electrotheatre.

"All theatres will have to face up to the digital transformation," emphasises Marcus Lobbes, Director of the Dortmund Academy for Theatre and Digitality. This development had already begun before the coronavirus pandemic. "We've been overwhelmed by requests for two years."

Actively shaping digital change in Switzerland too

Just last year, the Digital" theatre network which includes theatres not only in Germany, but also in Austria and Switzerland. The Chur Theatre and the Kleintheater Luzern are also involved.

The theatre network "Digital" wants to actively shape the digital transformation using the means of art: "We want to open up new spaces for performance and action, expand the physical stage space into the digital realm and test new forms of collaboration," it says.

Audiences are more open to such new formats than is often assumed, Lobbes and Augsburg theatre director André Bücker report. Initially, traditional theatre subscribers were the users, says Bücker, describing his theatre's experience. Many then recommended it to their children and grandchildren. Nowadays, the offers are often used by people who have never been to the theatre before. His theatre now also has a presence on online gaming platforms. And the digital world opens up far greater reach for theatres. For example, productions can be downloaded onto VR glasses worldwide.

Source: donaukurier