One of the many projects i am involved in is the Avatar Repertory Theatre… basically a company of actors/performers/enthusiasts pushing the boundaries of performances in Second Life. Our latest production is Shakespeare’s The Tempest.
ART presents Shakespeare's The Tempest
Now i know what you’re thinking…it’s either amateur dramatics ewwwwww…or (very rarely) Shakespeare yayyyy. To be honest, if you had said to me “you’re gonna be doing amateur dramatics in a year” i woulda laughed you outta the room. Long story how i got involved but essentially i started by creating a couple of props for a couple of plays ( a car and some seating)..and it escalated from there. Now i find myself doing Shakespeare 
Well not ‘doing’, so much as set and props design, effects, lighting and doing a lot of click to trigger effects during the performance. Also some ticketing, marketing, etc etc.
The set of The Tempest performances
Now i know i should be concentrating on raising my income in SL, however its a chance to take time out from the purely commercial, give something back to SL, and meet some really great/cool people. We number among our troupe, professional actors, an ex-opera singer, writers, producers, professors, musicians, DJs, a senior Linden (in his alt disguise), and lil ol me 
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Did i mention we decided to do it in Steampunk theme?
Or that we have a Dragon and a Furry as well? In an off-the-cuff moment i described it as “pre-apocolyptic post-victorian furry steampunk” a quote which has been used since on all press releases and a few blogs :/
I’m not that into Shakespeare (although i recognise the role he has played in our literary history) however, watching this play over and over for a couple of months now (rehearsals and this weeks performances) has been extremely interesting. I have learnt many things, including that a good actors performance can really transcend the wordiness and obscure terms that are Shakespeare, and really make the story come alive. And we have some terrific actors…
(in alphabetical order): Ada Radius, Dolgoruky Umarov, Em Jannings, Joff Fassnacht, JubJub Forder, Kayden Oconnell, MadameThespian Underhill, Mickie Nickolaidis, Persephone Phoenix, Prospero Frobozz, Rowan Shamroy, Sodovan Torok, Suzy Yue, and Thundergas Menges.
The Figurehead on the ship
And then there’s the technical aspects that fascinate me.
We bring actors and audience together from all over the world, we put then in one place, we do a live performance complete with special effects (usually reserved for post production on movies ) and we cope with the vagaries of technology like..actors computers crashing.. suddenly slow internet connections..voice dropping out… the challenges of set design with limited textures and objects to lower risk of the dreaded ‘lag’… audience doing the unexpected (like triggering doors on the set or suddenly flying right between actors) and many more aspects too numerous to mention.
The Tempest Ship - We break and sink it in the opening scene
A lot of work, a lot of testing, a lot of time, and a lot of thought go into making it work…but we do… and judging from the audience comments - we do it very well.
Warning: Marketing blurb ahead!
The Tempest, is a story of love, deceit and redemption… come witness this classic tale brought to life - Steampunk Shakespeare like you have never seen before!!!
If you are interested in attending the last performances ..contact JubJub Forder, or Ada Radius inside SecondLife
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