Virtual Reality in Theatre

 by Mackenzie Gilmore

Theatre and Virtual Reality - an unlikely pairing? Maybe. But an interesting one? Definitely. The combination of VR technology and the Theatre, coined as ‘immersive theatre’, has been in development for a while, however it is starting to gain traction and be seen more prominently in public. The first large-scale VR production was in 2020, when an experimental production of ‘The Tempest’ was co-produced by Oculus - a leading VR company. So while it’s a new style of theatre, is it going anywhere?

VR theatre consists of what has been described as ‘an interactive performance, where no two performances are the same.’ Of course, live theatre is never the same for every performance, but what VR theatre is able to explore is combining a digital media aspect with live theatre performance. Media on a screen is always the same when you rewatch it - seeing Hamilton live in a theatre will be different from the previous performance but watching the pro shot on Disney+ will be the same every time. VR theatre is able to create media that is unique each time. You can also interact with characters and objects in some performances, so the interactive element is evident.

VR theatre particularly rose to prominence during the Covid 19 induced lockdown in 2020, when live theatre was unable to continue and there were actors who needed work. VR theatre was aiming to replace the hole left by live theatre in lockdown. The previously mentioned experimental production of ‘The Tempest’ consisted of 40-minute performances, where the audience would have to get involved to help the story reach its conclusion (think panto, but for adults). However, now that live theatre is back, is there any further need for VR theatre? Will it ever be as prominent as live theatre?

Sarah Ellis, the Director of Digital Development at the Royal Shakespeare Company, and therefore heavily invoked in ‘The Tempest’, thinks so. She said, ‘VR theatre is the future of storytelling, where the audience becomes part of the story and the story becomes part of the audience.’ It’s certainly true that VR theatre has a unique element to it. When you wear a VR headset you are in the first person view and able to interact with the characters and really feel you are part of the story, something impossible to achieve in most live theatre. The practice has been getting more official and more supported, reflected and enabled by the foundation of The Virtual Reality Theatre and Immersive Entertainment Association in 2018.

This is a non-profit organisation that focuses on promoting and helping nurture the growth of VR theatre, providing resources and hosting events to allow different people from the creation process to meet, performers, developers, producers, etc. They have also helped quickly create a set of generally accepted ethical guidelines for the new medium, further legitimising VR theatre as a professional and potentially long-lasting style of performance. Some of these guidelines are similar to those of live theatre, relating to ‘being mindful of the messages and themes they are conveying in their work, and consider the impact of their work on diverse audiences’. Of course, some will be VR specific such as ensuring the privacy and security of participants, both actors and audience alike. Getting up close and personal with the actors in VR means that the production team must make sure that the actors’ personal information is protected, and to ensure that their work will not compromise the security of participants' networks or devices. This added security feature adds a level of complication to the process, however, there have been very few privacy issues with VR theatre so far - albeit with a small sample size. Add to this that most theatre companies are only able to run one live production at a time, mostly due to the fact most companies will only have one theatre, using VR means they could run multiple productions at once, possibly resulting in more profit. Staging a production on a stage is expensive, with theatre hire, upkeep, paying crew, front of house staff, an orchestra if needed, and other significant costs. Not only is VR theatre offering something more interactive, it’s potentially cheaper.

VR theatre isn't for everyone though, especially post lockdown. Many have been vocally disparaging of the form, including the Guardian critic Michael Billington who said, ‘VR theatre is a gimmick that lacks the intimacy and immediacy of live theatre’. This is a recurring concern about VR theatre, the lack of intimacy and connection. It seems that some think it feels more like watching a movie at home - you enjoy it but you feel little personal intimacy with the experience. This view is echoed by Simon McBurney, actor and director of the theatre company Complicite, who said, ‘VR theatre is a pale imitation of the real thing, and it will never replace the thrill of live performance.’ Digital Theatre pointed out that people can have a better experience, with no annoying audience to ruin it, no phones going off or restricted view seats, however some people in the industry say that the removal of a personal performance, the stage, the actors and costumes, live music, ‘blunt the overall experience’, as David Layzelle of Unity Developers wrote. Some believe that VR tech is currently not yet advanced enough to replicate a real-life performance. Whilst there may be some headsets that are technologically advanced enough to accurately reflect a live theatre performance, they are unlikely to be very accessible to the general public, having either not been released or just far too expensive for the general public.

This cost element is an important factor. The cost of a virtual reality headset alone can exceed £400. Is it worth that expense, plus having to pay for the VR show, for this experience? Additionally, if you want to watch as a family, you obviously need a device for each member of your family, so further expense for something so new. VR has also not benefited from the decades of experimentation that some other technologies have had, it still being a relatively new venture, so there are a lot more bugs than may be expected in VR theatre. Currently, it doesn’t have the experience in live theatre, and the question is whether it can survive long enough to iron out the errors and become a genuine mainstream medium.

Personally, I feel that VR theatre has no future in the industry. As an aspiring actor myself, performing with a VR headset on my head sounds very limiting and challenging. Added to this there is no live audience reaction to feed off either. More broadly, the expense of the venture currently doesn’t seem worth it, and it feels like there will be many within the theatrical professions who will view it with distrust. Virtual Reality is becoming a greater part of daily life, but it would be reasonable to argue it has not become as revolutionary as some may have thought. There are an estimated 171 million VR users worldwide, with 65% of those being in the United States of America, so is there really that big a market outside of the USA? According to AMT Lab, who have been researching the VR industry for years, immersive theatre is currently worth just $28 million, having been in development for almost 10 years, whereas Statista reports that the live performance industry is worth $8.4 billion. Fairly straightforward maths. Currently, in more traditional performance settings it feels like everyone wins. The actors get a more live and intimate experience with the audience, and vice versa, and producers get more money due to the industry being exponentially bigger. VR theatre would also remove the whole experience of ‘going to the theatre’ which poses extra challenges. Theatres are huge earners in some cities, and the West End and Broadway are incredibly profitable industries providing a living for a huge amount of people and professions. VR theatre would eliminate the need for many of those people, replacing them with some developers and a much smaller number of actors and directors.

To conclude, I feel VR theatre came into the public eye somewhat during lockdown, which was its chance to force itself into people’s thinking, however it was not viewed widely enough nor was it appetising enough for people to stop going to the theatre live after lockdown. VR may have a huge place in society, but not in theatre.