University drama department entering ‘virtual realms’

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This article was published 18/03/2022 (1457 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As in-person performances gradually return to the Westman region, Brandon University staff and students are offering an alternative form of theatre through their upcoming adaptation of Qui Nguyen’s comedy-drama “She Kills Monsters: Virtual Realms.”

Instead of performing this play live at the school’s Evans Theatre, the cast and crew are providing a pre-recorded video online that is available to watch for free from March 24 to April 2.

The video itself is composed of actors performing from various locations across the city, with the footage being spliced together to form a cohesive story.

While this format was chosen out of necessity—with BU’s COVID-19 restrictions not scheduled to change until late April—director Jacqueline Russell told the Sun that the production really gave her cast the opportunity to flex their creative muscles.

“At first, I think it felt really weird for all of us,” Russell said on Friday.

“But we did seem to find a groove and I think we found it just requires a different type of listening.”

Since the BU theatre department hasn’t staged a major production since the pandemic began, Russell said it was imperative to find the right script that could help them start out on the right foot.

Luckily, Nguyen’s “She Kills Monsters” provided the group with a very solid foundation, both in terms of its format and story content.

Despite originally being conceived for live performance spaces, the American playwright revised his original script following the emergence of COVID, allowing any cast to record their performances separately without detracting from the overall story.

“So the premise is that it’s a Dungeons and Dragons game that takes place in an online format, like a Zoom room or a FaceTime space,” Russell explains.

“And so the characters are conversing through this reality where they’re online together and the play also takes place in a fantasy space of the Dungeons and Dragons game.”

The story proper follows the character Agnes Evans, an incredibly “average” woman who undertakes an epic fantasy quest after discovering her dead sister’s Dungeons and Dragons notebook.

From there Agnes must contend with a bevy of supernatural creatures like fairies, ogres and five-headed dragons, all the while grappling with her sister’s hidden secrets.

Laurel Eslinger told the Sun she was more than happy to step into Agnes’ shoes, having already inhabited a variety of memorable characters through her theatre work in Virden, which involved roles in “Legally Blonde,” “The Addams Family” and “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.”

However, the fourth-year music student admitted that this virtual acting space did require some extra commitment on her part.

“It does take a lot more energy, because you can’t feel the physical energy that you would normally feel being on stage with someone,” she said. “So you have to give more to get the same amount back.”

But for every drawback, Russell is proud that her cast found new ways to use the online framework to their advantage, whether that means playing around with camera filters or incorporating some shadow puppetry into the proceedings.

“So it was neat interweaving technology into theatre, which is very much where theatre is heading right now in terms of virtual reality integration,” she said. “I’m really excited to see what’s coming out of the next few years.”

Tickets for BU’s upcoming production of “She Kills Monsters: Virtual Realms” are available for free through Eventbrite.

The BU drama department is also organizing a couple of live events in conjunction with the pre-recorded screening of the play.

This includes a post-show talk with the cast on March 26 (starting at 3 p.m.) and an in-person stage combat workshop that is taking place at the Evans Theatre throughout March 26-27 (from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.).

Anyone interested in taking part in this workshop must wear a mask and provide proof of their vaccination status, as per BU policy.

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