Immersive XR Theatre
Animate transforms a climate fiction short story into an immersive performance with interfaces to radio play and installation, in which the audience becomes the actor of the staging. Inspired by the eerie atmosphere of films such as Antonioni's Red Desert or Tarkovsky's Stalker, the story of two Canadian climate refugees roams the province of Newfoundland fleeing floods, heat waves and socio-economic chaos. Reinforced by AR, sound and haptic vibrations, the audience feels the dramatic emotional states of the two protagonists directly on their own bodies. Audiovisual memories of the world before the massive climate changes dramaturgically prepare the climax of the journey, in which they themselves become part of a dramatic transformation: in the no man's land of the Canadian Tablelands, nature absorbs them.
Artistic direction: Christopher Salter
Artists/participants: Remco Schuurbiers, Sam Slater, Caterina Barbieri, William Russell/MONOM, Florence To, Kate Story, Angelique Wilkie, Timothy Thomasson, Puneet Jain, Maxime Gordon, Pierrick Uno
Kunstfest, Weimar: 08-26-2022 (premeire); MUTEK.JP, Tokyo: 5.–11.12.2022; Napoli Teatro Festival, Naples: 19.–26.6.2023; MUTEK.CA, Montreal: 28.8.–4.9.2023; Dark Mofo, Hobart: 14.–23.6.2024