With Broadway shows across the country halted and live performances curtailed due to the coronavirus pandemic, some directors are trying to reimagine theater as a virtual reality experience.
How the pandemic has affected the cinema industry
These shows blur the lines between games, dance and theatre. With a VR headset and an internet connection, anyone can participate in a live performance, while providing much-needed revenue for an industry that has been economically devastated by COVID closures.
“In our current time of isolation, coming together, even when we’re physically apart, is extremely powerful, humanizing, and healing,” Brandon Powers, the choreographer of Queerskins: Ark’s choreographer, a virtual reality performance, said in an email interview. “Artists, producers, and audiences all know that, and these circumstances have made more people willing to try something new.”
Virtual reality shows run the gamut of theatrical genres. There’s The Under Presents, a gaming and theater experience available on Oculus Quest and Rift that featured live actors playing some of the game’s non-player characters. There’s also the Peabody Award-winning virtual reality art project, Queerskins: Ark, which features a dance performance about gay men in the 1980s.
