Texas A&M Workshop Series

Bringing "playable theater" to interdisciplinary undergraduate and graduate students.

The Non-Player Character team was hosted by the Institute of Applied Creativity and the School of Performance Visualization and Fine Arts (PVFA) at Texas A&M University to present NPC and two workshops for movement, animation, theatre, and music students.

Our visit kicked off a new initiative for PVFA students to explore tools and techniques for immersive storytelling experiences. Throughout the next six weeks, students will collaborate with peers across departments to produce a live performance like the one we presented on our trip.

During our visit, we staged the latest workshop of our award-winning virtual reality stage performance, Non-Player Character, for audiences to interact with a live, singing actor and musician in both physical and virtual space. Four audience members wear virtual reality headsets on-stage with the actor while their avatars are projected onto the big screen in real-time. Those watching from the audience watch the story unfold like an animated film come to life. The majority of the show’s scenic, costume and music are digital and adapt to any venue with stable WIFI. Non-Player Character prototypes have been successfully staged in playhouses, cinemas, concert halls, art galleries, convention halls, booths, and entirely virtual/remote. 

BEFORE OUR VISIT

Leading up to the event, we consulted with the department and venue to make sure our live music and VR cinematic capture would easily integrate with their existing systems, and to coordinate on-the-ground equipment, instruments, and logistics.

We also discussed their desired outcomes so we could design the workshop curriculum and format to resonate with their students. Finally, we created media assets with the University’s branding to assist in their promotional efforts, including posters, a produced marketing video, and a list of the department’s desired archival assets to capture on-site.

BACKSTAGE TOUR / OFFICE HOURS

On our first day, we loaded Non-Player Character’s equipment into the performance venue on campus. Rather than our usual “quick check,” we took inspiration from our cue-to-cue at USITT and treated the entire day as “open office hours” for rotating classes to observe us at work, pausing to answer questions and demonstrate parts of our performance. 

We had a Visualization class observe in the morning where we focused on the setup of our VR cinematics and design aesthetic of the performance. Later, a Sonic Improvisation class joined and we focused on the sound check and live musicians’ improvisational techniques.

By hosting this “open door tech run,” our team essentially provided a tailored “backstage tour” of setting up and running a live performance in extended reality (LPXR) production. 

LIVE PERFORMANCE

The entire university and surrounding community was invited to attend the live presentation, similar to other touring entertainment productions that visit campus. Faculty brought their family and several students returned after attending the office hours.

Our team was assisted by wonderful faculty and student technicians who gained hands-on experience running (and enhancing) the immersive production.

Random audience members were selected as on-stage participants, co-creating the story with the live performer; including two students, a professor and a child of a faculty member. A lively and generous audience participated by reacting, improvising, singing-a-long and using an application on their mobile phones to create objects in the virtual world on-screen.

In fact, this was the first audience in the history of the show that offered to give the protagonist a group hug during an emotionally vulnerable moment. For the hour-long show, the theater was filled with constant laughter and even a few tears. As part of the Finale, the Participants were instructed to take off their headsets, returning them to the physical world before taking a group bow as the stars of the show.

At the conclusion, strike and load-out took under 30 minutes, separating our equipment from the University equipment, helping reset the space and loading out.

WORKSHOP

Our team developed curriculum for a workshop on Devised Theatre using immersive technology, breaking down six key considerations to developing live virtual reality experiences for both virtual and in-person performance. 

Brendan Bradley shared insights as a professional performer across theater, film, television, video games and as an internationally recognized live VR performer; leading hands-on explorations in digital puppetry, narrative design and dramatic improvisation. 

Michael Morran introduced his pioneering work in building and deploying theatrical cues in virtual reality as well as strategic audience engagement. 

And Maurice Soque Jr. leveraged his career as a Los Angeles music producer, audio engineer and musical virtuoso to share how to bring multiple audio sources and instruments into both physical and virtual spaces.

RESEARCH & COLLABORATION

Our visit comes as Texas A&M’s school of Performance, Visualization, and Fine Arts (PVFA) enters its second year. The formation of this new school rehoused programs in Dance, Theatre Studies, Music, and Animation, which had previously been located across disparate schools, under one institution.

Our presentation, which included elements of live performance, emerging technology, and original, live music, perfectly targeted PVFA’s diverse student body. As the school aims to strengthen ties between the faculty, students, and staff of its departments, our work was a conversation starter for many new collaboration opportunities between university stakeholders.

Our team greatly valued the time to adapt our work for the researchers and educators that hosted us to align with PVFA’s initiatives. We can’t wait to come back!

We are always looking for the next opportunity to bring Non-Player Characterto more universities and continue to collaborate with the next generation of storytellers.