Marie Jourdren
Creative Director
Luxury. Culture/Art. Experiences.

Luxury. Culture/Art. Experiences.

The Horrifically Real Virtuality

SOCIAL XR THEATRE — 2018

ORIGINAL WORK —
\ GRAND PRIX AT FoST, NYC 
\ VENICE MOSTRA SELECTION (VR COMPETITION) 
\ COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY BREAKTHROUGHS IN STORYTELLING AWARD 
\ LE BOOK NON-TRADITIONAL VR WINNER 
\ CENTRE PHI, MONTREAL

ROLE.     AUTHOR & DIRECTOR

CONTEXT.

Ed Wood made the worst films in Hollywood history — and became a cult icon for it. His movies are full of visible strings, shadows of crew members behind the scenery, cardboard flying saucers. The spectator becomes a delighted accomplice: you are not watching a film, you are watching someone trying to make a film. I wanted to transpose that feeling — the joy of seeing behind the curtain, the blurred line between front stage and backstage — into a new medium that, just like Ed Wood’s cinema in its time, was still at the experimental stage: virtual reality.

APPROACH.

I wrote and directed The Horrifically Real Virtuality — the first social immersive VR theatre experience, where ten spectators share the same virtual world at the same time, each represented by a full-body avatar. The spectators are plunged into a film set directed by a reincarnation of Ed Wood — played by a live actor on the physical set — alongside Bela Lugosi, whose digital double is performed in real time through motion capture. They touch real objects that exist simultaneously in the physical set and the virtual world. They interact with the characters — and with each other. And the narrative shifts: what begins as a charming, clumsy film shoot gradually slides into something stranger, more unsettling, where the boundary between what is real and what is virtual dissolves entirely.

Every performance is unique. The actors — whom I call “reactive actors” — adapt their lines, their behaviour, their improvisation to each group. A shy spectator will be gently drawn in. A bold one will be challenged. And at some point, every spectator experiences a one-to-one moment with one of the characters — because I learned from immersive theatre that nothing leaves a deeper imprint than being singled out in a crowd.

WORK.

A 60-minute social VR theatre piece for ten spectators per session. Physical sets and virtual worlds superimposed. Live actors in full motion capture. A narrative that adapts to every audience. Two social media campaigns. Accompanied by a mockumentary — a self-aware making-of that plays the same game as the show itself, blurring the line between documentation and fiction.

Grand Prix at the Future of Storytelling Festival (New York). Selected at Venice VR (Mostra de Venise). Columbia University Breakthroughs in Storytelling Award. Le Book Non-traditional VR Winner (Connections — Le Book). Commercial run at the Centre Phi in Montreal — two months on stage, 75.6% average occupancy, 90% on evenings and weekends. Over 1,000 performances.

POSTER.

TRAILER

SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGNS.

MOCKUMENTARY.

POST-SHOW & MERCHANDISING.

PR CONTENT.

AWARDS & HONORS.

PRESS REVIEW.

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AUTHOR & DIRECTOR. MARIE JOURDREN
PRODUCER. ANTOINE CARDON
STAGE DIRECTOR. MAXIMILIEN DELORT
ACTORS. JOSH JEFFERIES, ROBIN BERRY
PRODUCTION. DV GROUP

MUSIC

PHILIP GLASS

CIRCUS DIRECTION

TILDE BJÖSFORS (CIRKÜS CIRKÖK)

VISUAL DESIGN

MAT COLLISHAW

LIBRETTO

DAVID HENRY HWANG, AFTER ROBERT LAX

SET DESIGN

CHRISTIAN FRIEDLÄNDER

SET CREATIVE AND TECH CONSULTING

MARIE JOURDREN

PRODUCTION

PONT-NEUF