Nearly ten years ago, I had the pleasure of working with Robin McNicholas and the team at Marshmallow Laser Feast on a 12-month project, which pushed the boundaries of event technology and storytelling.
There was no doubt back then that he and the team were at the very forefront of experimental creative technologies, from the collaboration with Saatchi & Saatchi on the ‘Meet Your Creator’ drone show, to the cutting edge work developing real-time projection mapping, which would later evolve into what we now know as Extended Reality. The passion to push developmental technology to meet their creative vision ensured a culture and belief of whatever we can dream, we can do.
Fast forward those years later and when I heard that he was directing the RSC’s Dream, a ‘live, online performance set in a virtual midsummer forest,’ I had extremely high expectations for the performance…I was not disappointed; it was astounding.
The stunning mix of visual technology, sound design and creative live performance had my family and I gripped throughout. For the time being, let’s just take it from a technological perspective:
I mean…just wow.
I don’t think any of us right now know where this could go, Robin himself was rather coy when asked in the live Q&A whether he thinks this technology could deliver a full play (for what it’s worth I think it could). But consider this for a moment: nearly ten years on from the early innovations, real-time image manipulation and extended reality studios have proliferated into productions from the Mandalorian to corporate events. Drone shows are now so accessible that they can be booked for weddings. It feels as if this question is not one that needs to be answered right now.
The makers of this show know the truth. That creatively driven innovation comes first. Their job is not to tell us the way, it is to show us what’s possible and it’s now on all of us to Dream a way forward...
Dream has finished its current run. You can watch it on demand here https://www.rsc.org.uk/news/dream-on-demand.
If you want to check out some of MLF’s work, including the pieces I reference above, visit:
https://vimeo.com/marshmallowlaserfeast
Dream 2021. A live online performance set in a virtual midsummer forest.
Dream is inspired by Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream and allows audiences to directly influence the live performance from wherever they are in the world.
An Audience of the Future project. The Royal Shakespeare Company in collaboration with Manchester International Festival, Marshmallow Laser Feast and Philharmonia Orchestra.