“Each year since 1980, the Dexter F. & Dorothy H. Baker Foundation has sponsored a residency on campus featuring a world-class artist in the fields of theatre, music and dance,” reads a statement issued by the Muhlenberg Theatre & Dance Department. From Thursday, Oct. 29 to Sunday, Nov. 1, the Baker Visiting Artist Series held its Fall 2020 residency virtually with NYC-based director and theatre-maker Tara Ahmadinejad. The weekend opened with a conversation with Ahmadinejad, as she explained the crux of her work and how it has changed with the pandemic, and was followed by a two-day virtual workshop for students.
At 8:30pm on Thursday evening, some opening remarks were issued by Dr. Ethan Philbrick of the Department of Theatre & Dance, in addition to a few brief introductory statements about the guest speaker’s career background. Dr. Philbrick was among several other faculty members present from the department, including Holly Cate, Associate Professor of Acting and Beth Schachter, Professor of Acting, Directing, Theatre History and Theory.
Ahmadinejad began her discussion in chronology, beginning with some information about the beginning of her work as the co-founder of Piehole, an NYC arts collective known for its development of fringe theatrical productions. “We made this show with puppets,” she explained, “and we said ‘hey…let’s keep making this kind of theatre.’” Piehole’s experimentation and development continued another five years, as explained by Ahmadinejad, when finally the language of the works they were producing went through a drastic change based purely on the connection between psychology and technology.
In order to transfer the work being done from what she described as ‘old tech,’ or the physical mechanics of in-person theatre, to a brand new virtual reality platform, the team understood a few fundamental continuities between the two, as well as some key differences. “Finding ways to play around with audience expectations was a big similarity,” said Ahmadinejad. “There is also the struggle of dealing with a rogue audience member which makes live theatre so memorable and unique; the rule of thumb for us was that if someone tries to get in your spotlight, the best thing you can do is try to get in theirs.”
Ahmadinejad and her team created space, known as “The Under Prevents,” which is accessible for users of virtual reality screening devices. “When you enter, it’s a desert,” she began. “Then, the players have to access a ship, which acts as the vehicle for when they eventually watch a two-act play.” The graphics of the world, as shown in a short PowerPoint presentation, are similar to that of a modern indie videogame.
Tying back into the theme of actors’ individual spotlights, and how an audience member can interact with them, Ahmadinejad explored the reasons why virtual reality works to preserve the notion of attending a real-time theatrical experience without risking one’s own health to travel to a theatre. While the involvement of computer programming in the game design does, by its nature, require far more anticipation of player-activated events, the multiplayer feature of the space replicates the idea of each actor having a spotlight. Ultimately, this restores the value of interpersonal connection, which Ahmadinejad found so valuable and unique to performing live theatre prior to the pandemic.
In order to craft the pieces produced in Ahmadinejad’s virtual theatre playground, she enlisted the help of several noteworthy Broadway and off-Broadway playwrights, including Eliza Bent, who has written a three-act play for the project based on digital themes, and the implementation of audience participation into the overall design of the play. Live actors were subsequently hired to take part in the game, and given the scarce climate of work in the United States for actors post-quarantine, this kind of work is growing increasingly crucial. Ahmadinejad even explained, humorously, that some actors have been calling the project “The Uber of acting work” because of the freelance aspect, and the freedom to find work upon the actors’ availability. Ahmadinejad shared her own feelings about why she is certain that the efficiency of the program, which she and her colleagues have under current development, is already capable of providing opportunities for a seemingly bleak future in the performing arts industry. “The future of theatre work will live on for everyone: designers, actors, writers, producers,” she continued. “That’s one of the most exciting things about this technology.”
After the seminar came to a close, people in the audience had the opportunity to ask any questions they had for roughly fifteen minutes, and a number of people had engaging comments to bring up, both in-person and in the Zoom chat. Schacter, for one, ended the call with an uplifting message to the talented guest artist:
“Thank you for sharing wonderful stories and possibilities for our current strange moment. I particularly like your way of talking about creating unique worlds – and using every aspect of the online platform…from the subtle to the ridiculous!”
