Speed11-Embracing Disruption: Taking Theatre Virtual

For nearly a year the entertainment industry has been frozen around the world, from Hollywood to Broadway, from concerts to cruise lines, the pandemic has fundamentally disrupted the ways we create and consume content. In UNO’s theatre department, a flexible, proactive teamwork enabled us to pivot the way that we rehearse and present our work from traditional in-person experiences to high-tech, innovative film and virtual reality experiences at the cutting edge of the entertainment industry. Using video examples of our performances and our processes, we propose to share our journey from our first filmed performance at the beginning of the year, to our fully 3D Virtual Environment Shakespeare performance this Spring. By embracing the disruption, and allowing a passion for new technology and media to empower us, we have made a great leap forward in the educational experience of our students, in a way that positions us on the leading edge of what it means to create, explore, and communicate today. As is the world, our department is changed forever by the events of our time. But our reaction has empowered us with new tools and new practices that leave us stronger and more capable than ever, and will prepare our students for the multimedia future that is here sooner than expected.