Theatre Design & Technology - Winter 2011 - 57

and the characters in order to execute a mysterious performance that represents the origin
story of the creators of the System, in some distant past. They no longer know why they are
making this play, nor what it means, but they will create it anyway, by revealing an extruded
series of translucent forms and characters who are transformed."
Achieving the objective of this opera requires the stage to become the physical and emotional expression of the vocal performance of Simon Powers (baritone James Maddalena). The
Simon Powers character enters the System in the first scene, leaving the view of the audience
for the majority of the remaining performance. The elements of the set become the means of
expressing his gestures and emotion; they become his body in more than a merely metaphoric
sense. This dramatic device requires the design elements to be as responsive as the performers.
The lights and costumes need to be reconciled to the set and to the living actors in ways seldom
demanded in stage performance. Alex McDowell continues his description of the opera:
Essentially the System is the sum of the parts-the Walls and their digital content representing the
skin, the robots the appendages, the Chandelier the head with Nic's arm as a hybrid of the robotic
and the human, a state between being and the System. All are tied together with light-a matrix
of single point individually addressable white LEDs are distributed across the robots surface, the
chandelier, and in vertical planes upstage and downstage projecting across the fourth wall.
For the design of the opera we conceived the System to be both the metaphor of a living space
(Simon Powers' home, centered on his library) and an organic entity. Each set piece represents
a series of cells at different scales that in combination can create a full range of expressive live
performance. Each component is based on a three-sided cellular unit-the OperaBots and
Walls-which are, at vastly different scales, extruded triangular columns, or periaktoi; the
Furniture, a series of robotic hinged pyramidal shapes in motion; and the Chandelier, which starts
as a metaphor for a bird with three identical wings laced with mathematical form, and becomes
an elegant organ, Simon's head, "or some other juicy part."

This level of technology was part of the piece from its inception. The composer, Tod Machover is also a scientist, inventor and professor of music and media at the MIT Media Lab.
The idea of technological artifacts being used to express human emotion in real time in concert
with living artists of incredible skill and artistry is the challenge that is woven into the very fabric of the piece. Solving this challenge required more than casual collaboration. It required the
design team to immerse themselves in the narrative and to see, hear, and feel the production
develop around them. A proven template for this type of process does not exist; it had to be
discovered en route to a carefully defined objective.
In general, the objective of the immersive design process is not to create an environment
that supports the telling of a story, but to design an experience of a story being told. This is
more than a matter of mere semantics. There are several key distinctions; first, concern for the
experience of the audience is brought to the forefront. Second, the story is not the end itself
but a means by which the experience is rendered meaningful. This frames the objective for the
design process in a way that is more likely to free the creativity of the team without inadvertently
encouraging self indulgent impulses. In regard to the pursuit of the objective in the immersive
design process it is a requirement that it be experiential and fully collaborative. This approach
can foster a greater sense of play, a freer exchange of ideas and a higher degree of investment
from individual team members. The means to achieve this is where the technology comes in;
virtual worlds, digital imaging and real time communication tools all expand the possibilities
of what can be explored and effectively communicated. When asked how an immersive design
process differs from a traditional design process Alex McDowell remarked that the immersive
tool set allowed him to "sculpt in space as opposed to drawing on paper." He further noted
that, "By necessity you must consider the logic of the space in a different way."
Michael Devine notes that the tools we use in immersive design are "beginning to make
the creative experience intimate and immediate." What designers everywhere are discovering is
that the same tools that make collaboration possible over great distances are making collaboration more effective and more satisfying even when the entire team is working under the same
roof. Plus it has the added advantage of naturally strengthening the connection between training
and professional practice.
w i n t e r 2011

theatre design

& technology

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Winter 2011