Residency overview
CRIPtic Arts had previously developed digital work for the stage and observed that it enabled them to work with a wider range of participants. They aimed to utilise the Telepresence Stage residency to build their expertise in integrating remote performance technology into their performance toolkit, to train the wider team in these skills, enabling them to work with a more national range of performers, regardless of the physical location of the theatre. They were also particularly interested in integrating live and recorded material, such as when working with British Sign Language translation.
“This has been an incredible opportunity for us. The lessons we learned enabled us to incorporate a pre-recorded performance from a remote performer in our most recent show at the Barbican Centre, after that performer contracted COVID-19 and could not participate in person”
CRIPtic Ars were interested in physical interaction and remote performance, particularly how physical space could be occupied in a tactile manner. They were curious about the impact of integrating live digital elements into the performance and the boundary-breaking possibilities this offered, for example, performers ‘escaping’ from apparent Zoom windows. Finally, they wanted to test how a virtual stage could maintain a sense of live energy and how this might interact with other access provisions, such as captioning.
Techniques and solutions
From the outset, CRIPtic Arts wanted to explore hybrid techniques and solutions, combining online and theatre space productions. Their residency experiments reshaped many of their ideas about staging Jamie Hale’s ‘Quality of Life Is Not a Measurable Outcome’ as a hybrid experience. This led them to explore options such as embedding performers in the audience space, live-streaming them to the stage, and developing methods for interactive performances with performers in any location.
Reflections and outcomes
CRIPtic Arts produced a 15-minute section of ‘Quality of Life Is Not a Measurable Outcome’ involving live online actors in the UK and a dancer from Singapore, as well as pre-recorded performers and digital scenography. This included a pre-recorded British Sign Language (BSL) performer for a small section of the show, synchronously delivered with spoken English, with corresponding words and signs occurring at the same time. This was explored for the first time on a Telepresence Stage, integrating these two elements as an accessible and effective translation.
