VOLUME 12, NO. 1     JUNE 1998

Play-ing around

Audiences came out in force in recent months to enjoy three unique theater events. In February, members of Masque presented Quilt: A Musical Celebration that told the stories of several fictional people represented on a segment of an AIDS Quilt. Jeff Alderson '98, left, portrayed Charlie.

On March 8, a first-time collaboration between a professional theater and a technological university to utilize virtual reality technology was unveiled at Worcester's Foothills Theatre with the production of The Story of Dr. Faust. The event was also the world premier of a new play written by Foothills Theatre executive producer and artistic director Marc P. Smith, who adapted the story from various sources.

Dean O'Donnell, affiliate instructor of drama/theatre, developed two virtual worlds for the play with the assistance of Mick Darling '98 and Steven Hocurscak '00. The first demonstrated that Faust is a great magician by showing him flying over the city of Wittenberg; the second took him from Wittenberg to the palace of Charles V in Vienna.

WPI's Theatre and Theatre Technology program is pioneering the use of technology with virtual reality. They first utilized this technology in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest in November 1996, when they modeled worlds within the computer and projected them on stage. A refinement of these techniques was used in a recent WPI production of Medea/Media in which the technical crew created an extensive texture library as well as various scenes.

WPI's technique differs from traditional virtual reality programs, which place the audience in the virtual world. The approach places the actors in the virtual worlds by using them as an extension of the "virtual world" of the stage set. O'Donnell, who initiated the WPI program, refers to the approach as "augmented fantasies."

In April, audiences were treated to New Voices 16, the University's annual showcase of theatre arts. This year, 16 short plays by students and others in the campus community were performed during a four-day period.

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