We all know what happens when people gather via new media to overthrow dictators. What happens when artists converge in the virtual space to tell stories? The powerful vortex of the collective imagination may be as transformative. When using new technology, the leap is how to innovate artform.

As part of Velocity Lab 2012, an Anglo-American ensemble engaged in workshops experimenting with telepresence in live theatre. British actors gathered at Google Campus London while American actors converged at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. From October to December 2012, the actors from both sides of the pond interacted via Vidyo’s telepresence platform.

In video - American actors: Zoey Martinson, Adam McNulty, Danielle Skraastad, Matt Citron, Neysa Lozano. British actors: Francesca Bailey, Mark Donald, Thomas Rushforth, Wendy Windle. Jonathon Ward (NYC) and J Dakota Powell (London) overseeing the workshop. Locations: NYU Tisch Arts, NYC and Google Campus London. Dec. 9, 2012.

Ward: “In doing the improv with this technology…you, the actors, control the close-up, the long shot, etc. In effect, you’re the editor. You’re making the shot. Even in terms of the environment you’re in, you can change the camera angle. You can move the camera up so it’s looking down on you. You can put the camera below you so it’s looking up. You can change the lighting and the location.”

“All of [these variables] turn the actor into the director, the lighting person and the photographer. It is a lot of responsibility." 

Ward: "I do think we live that way. If we’re the kind of person with an iPhone who takes photographs of things and puts it right on Facebook, we’re living in images all the time. And we’re controlling those images and putting out those images.”

“What this media offers is the possibility to pull all of that together. But it does put it in the actor’s hand more than anyone else. As far as I’m concerned, I can set up the equipment and put out ideas but whether a story is told…we can really form [the story] from the collective imagination.”

The transatlantic ensemble seemed to progress intuitively in three stages.

Stage I: Who Are You?

The first step was the most intimate - call it the getting-to-know-you stage. The British and American actors used improvisation to connect to each other, establishing a rapport over the fibers. Mirroring and counting games helped actors to pick up on and reflect each other’s verbal and physical cues onscreen.

Stage II: Where Are We?

Local actors began to explore their private space - work stations - while interacting with remote actors in their spaces. The natural geography of each space provided the "set." Similar to site-specific work, a "set" doesn't need to be constructed. Space can be selected and photographed. Ironically, the more real and region-specific the space, the more interesting on camera.

Actors could manipulate their webcams to control how other people entered or viewed their spaces. At the same time, they could explore their respective spaces and even exit off screen. Once presence was made known and felt by the ensemble, the lack of presence – vanishing – became evocative. An empty space was never really empty. It's akin to stored energy in a muscle; the potential for action was always lurking. 

Stage III: Where Can We Go?

Actors used mobile devices – iPads and Smart Phones - to roam into public spaces – hallways, elevators, balconies and streets. Geography suddenly ballooned. They could stream right into the Vidyo platform from their own devices without any overhead management...ala plugging into the Matrix. All they needed was a wifi connection to become part of the collective story. Other real people - the public, passersby, other NYU students in the hallways - became part of the virtual landscape onscreen.

Ramping up to TimeWave, the international festival fusing technology and live performance, we’ll explore various ways to use this powerful technology to tell human stories. In 2013, the Anglo-American alliance in telepresence will continue in the same spirit of playfulness, openmindedness and discovery.

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