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A Brief Overview

SL Shakesp e ar e Co mp a n y
Virtual worlds: Multiuser “worlds” that exist in computer-simulated “virtual reality”
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Often contains analogues of the real world, such as currency and similar spatial relations
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Current Mainstream Implementations: User interacts in world represented by his/her avatar
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Different virtual worlds have different features, but communication medium present in all.
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Popular v.w.’s: ActiveWorlds, World of Kaneva, World of Warcraft, The Sims Online, Second Life
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Virtual Theatre: theatrical performances in virtual worlds
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Manifestation: Actors control avatars to tell a story, as witnessed by an audience of avatars
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No longer location dependent, globally accessible anywhere with an Internet connection
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More easily create immersive settings for theatrical presentations, can customize rules of reality.
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Puppetry Analogy
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Actor as represented by an avatar puppet
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Keystrokes in lieu of strings to control the avatar
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(Tangled strings manifest as virtual world server/software congestion!)
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SL Shakesp e ar e Co mp a n y
 Second Life (SL) is an immersive Stats (as of late 2008)
• Over 15 million registered users
open-ended virtual world imagined • ~50,000 online simultaneously
• US$10 million exchanged
by and created by its users. monthly on LindeX
Extensive inworld commerce system
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Global, communal, effective social networking platform.
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Users register for a unique avatar name, purchase land or
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islands to establish venues with a unique address (SLurl)
Second Life as the “metaverse”
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SL Shakesp e ar e Co mp a n y
 Actor: represented by avatar in Second Life (Avatar: “virtual body” of participant)
 Dependent on connective interface (e.g., keyboard, gamepad, OCZ nia, custom software)
 Basic Implementations of Theatre
Avatar moves/activates things directly via arrow keys and mouse-clicks, minimal scripted support.
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 Combination of movement with animations create new choreography
 Speech via text chat, media stream, or SL Voice
 Technology-guided Implementations of Theatre
Artificial intelligence used to present a sequence of scripted behavior.
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 Speech via text chat, media stream, or SL Voice (Virtual Ventriloquism)
 Hybrid
 Voice acting by real humans, mixed with avatars guided by (programmatic) scripts.

SL Shakesp e ar e Co mp a n y
 Not a teleplay: Not merely about actors being separated by long distances, but
actually, a play that exists in virtual reality—particularly, the metaverse, a
virtual world with analogues to the real world, such as its own currency and
economy, its own culture and intelligentsia, etc.
 Not a broadcast medium, per se: Limitations in number of avatars in a single
local venue similar to a RL theatre, not easy to record a high quality film of an
event. When broadcast, in the traditional sense, as a raster video, the
performance loses its scope.
 Not just animation: The animation medium is premeditated, requiring that
each frame of the spiel be planned for or created in advance. When you have an
avatar on a virtual stage, it’s definitely a live medium, where anything can
happen once showtime starts!

SL Shakesp e ar e Co mp a n y
 Second Life is new; the platform is experimental.
 Possibilities
 SL, as is, can facilitate high customization in avatar and
set design, recognizably emulate RL productions
 Innovative Possibilities
 Transparent Interface: Natural movements via customized
browser for real-time motion capture streaming animation.
 Holographic projections

SL Shakesp e ar e Co mp a n y
 The SL Shakespeare Company (SLSC) is
 a professional theatre company based in SL.
 curator of the most historically accurate theatres and
architecture relating to William Shakespeare in virtual worlds.
 The SLSC is an independent organization.
 Fiscal Sponsor: sLiterary, Inc. (NPO, arts in virtual worlds)
 Not affiliated with Linden Lab (Second Life)
 Not affiliated with any one institution, though many have
participated, and all are welcome to participate.
 Origins
 Founded in 2007 by Ina Centaur
 Composed entirely of virtual staff recruited from the user
communities of Second Life, and the Internet.

SL Shakesp e ar e Co mp a n y
 Performance Environment
 SL Globe Theatre
To-Scale replica of Shakespeare’s second Globe Theatre
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 Set in the midst of an an arts mecca in virtual worlds.
Blackfriars Theatre
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World’s only complete replica of Shakespeare’s indoor theatre.
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 Perfect for Elizabethan-style black box theatre.
 Networking, Publicity, and Outreach
 Utilizes the talented network of artists and creators, who are
the merchants of SL
 Thrives in the “artistic meritocracy” of SL
 Grassroots-based publicity, with focus on inworld
communities.
 SL reaches to all econ-sectors, around the world. Many saw
their first Shakespearean play on SL.

SL Shakesp e ar e Co mp a n y
 Main: A single full-length Shakespearean play/year
 Several smaller productions other than the main play
 RSC Methods of scansion/analysis with rigorous rehearsals
 Open auditions, recruit from SL.
 Most actors have never met in RL.
 Performed scenes from Hamlet in our pilot year 2007
 Elizabethan-era production
 Created avatars based on photos submitted by actors
 Shown in B&W are imagery of avatars created based on actors

SL Shakesp e ar e Co mp a n y
 Twelfth Night is our main Shakespearean production for ’09
 Early work started in Summer of 2008, as a full-costumed
tag-team staged reading series of the entire play.
 Act 1 (full ensemble) is currently an open-ended run.
 Acts 2, 3, 4 & 5 will open in June, September, and November
 Set in the “Generic Past,” archetypal character designs
 The Domain of Our Theatre is an Evolving Virtual World
 Second Life is constantly evolving and changing based on what
its users do. The world itself is a very live medium.
 Live Demo: Scene from Twelfth Night: Act 1, Scene 2