Virtual Production for a Digital Play with Realwheels Theatre Company

Way Out Studios is collaborating with Realwheels Theatre to bring their theatrical production of Jean-Paul Sartre’s play “No Exit” to the virtual stage. The play, from which the phrase “hell is other people” originated, has been reimagined and adapted to our modern remote living as “hell is an endless Zoom call.” Playing within this new digital space run by a capricious conferencing platform, our three actors find themselves confined and constrained to its austere and mercurial rule, as they become familiar with its new forms of torture.

The objective of the project is to develop the technology that can support a live recording of various simultaneous scenes of a staged play. This includes creating specific visual effects that alter this Zoom environment and designing the interface that can trigger them live in response to actors’ cues by a stage manager.

With this digital mixed-reality interpretation of the play, we’re looking to heighten the audience experience and reinvent online theatre and visual storytelling.