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Education and Fun
Breakthroughs In Distance Theater Beam International Actors, Audiences Together
By Christine Dellert
When Alice falls down the rabbit hole in the University of Central Florida’s latest high-tech theater production, she’ll end up hundreds of miles away -- in Illinois or Waterloo, Canada.
For the second year in a row, the UCF Conservatory Theatre is collaborating with other universities in a digital-age makeover of a stage classic. This time, Lewis Carroll’s ageless fantasia will get an electronic overhaul that draws audiences into an Internet2 wonderland.
“Alice Experiments In Wonderland” opens Jan. 24 at the Mainstage theatre and runs through the first weekend in February.
The production is a partnership between the UCF Conservatory Theatre, Bradley University in Peoria, Ill., and the University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, which will simultaneously stage the show live using high-speed broadband connections, 2-D and 3-D sets and ceiling-high screens.
“We’re actually connecting the three audiences and unifying the story, characters and the whole play into one mega production,” said UCF Theatre Professor and director John Shafer, who penned the 21st-century version of the story with contributions from Waterloo student Amy Sensenstein.
Each university has its own cast of characters who will perform on their respective stages with virtual actors “beamed” in via Internet2, a much faster version of the Internet available to higher-ed institutions.
So when UCF’s Alice meets a pair of techno geeks that will help her navigate through this digital world, the geeks might be transmitted images of actors from Waterloo -- appearing on Orlando’s stage in real time. Cameras will even be turned on the audience during the show.
“We’re playing with relationships, time and space in a very different way,” said Shafer, who worked on a similar distance theater production last year with Bradley and Waterloo. The trio of schools received international praise for seamlessly joining virtual and real-life actors in their version of Elmer Rice’s “The Adding Machine.”
The goal of “Alice,” Shafer says, is to produce the first affordable and easily replicable show that merges three universities’ stages, casts and crews into one interactive experience. And, he hopes, it will lay the groundwork for theatre companies around the world to work together for the benefit of their audiences.
About 300 students, faculty and staff from the three universities have worked on “Alice” for months -- brainstorming costumes, scenes and settings in online forums. The production is co-directed by Gerd Hauck from the University of Waterloo and George Brown of Bradley University.
“It’s just so new and innovative,” said Eliza Stevens, an assistant director and UCF undergraduate student in Theatre. “We have no idea where this experience could take us or what kinds of doors it will open.”
While the technology is state-of-the art, the play’s storyline remains family friendly -- with a few modern tweaks, of course. Alice sports an iPod and Ugg boots. She befriends a computer-hacking Mad Hatter. And the Cheshire Cat rides a razor scooter.
Performances will be Jan. 24 through 27, Jan. 31 and Feb. 1 through 3. All shows begin at 8 p.m., except for weekend matinees, which will start at 2 p.m.
Ticket prices are $15 for adults, $13 for seniors over 55 and $10 for students with ID. Reservations are recommended and available through the UCF Conservatory Theatre box office by calling 407-823-1500. The box office can assist with accommodations for patrons with disabilities, and group rates are available.
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