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It is everything a creative learning experience should be — fun, collaborative, imaginative and strategic — with six months of work being showcased this month in an avant-garde production called "obedience.exe."
The innovative live production, which will be streamed through YouTube Live and is open to the public, runs Wednesday-Sunday, February 25 – March 1.
According to David Alford, a visiting professor of theatre at BW, the production is the final step of a project that began as part of a fall course called "Interactive Cyber Theatre."
For the 23 students enrolled, the three-credit-hour course with no prerequisites was an invitation to immerse themselves in a world-premiere event in which the viewing audience would determine the direction of the story in real time.
The enthusiastic group of students came to the course ready to learn and push their creativity to the max. Divided into five groups, they would be the writers, actors, technicians and video artists who would develop the content, design logistics and beta test it over the course of the semester.
"I wanted to give BW students the opportunity to work together to create a new type of original and dramatic storytelling," said Alford. "Though the concept and direction are mine, students have been involved in every area of content generation and are responsible for executing all the production elements.
"Cyber theatre is an emerging and exciting blend of theatre and technology that puts the audience in control of the story. We are employing livestreamed performances, structured improvisation and real-time audience voting," he explained.
"Actors will be improvising dialogue that is guided by live coaching through the earpieces they will wear. Audience members will be an integral part of the production and the unfolding storyline through interaction from their devices," he went on to say.
"Every show will be different. And every moment will be an exciting, fast-paced learning experience that will teach students how to think and respond in ways they may not have had before with traditional, scripted theatre," noted Alford.
Pittsburgh resident Abby Nagle '27 is one of the students who took the course. A BFA in acting major, she served as a writer for the project and is also one of the actors.
"In our working script of the show, the audience is not only involved in decisions being made within the plot, but they are also their own role — the audience is a character," revealed Nagle.
The entire show, she said, "is from the point of view of an artificial lifeform that has been mistakenly awoken by a group of students. The camera essentially works as the eyes of the artificial lifeform.
"During the production, we will livestream performances of improvised scenarios with multiple potential storylines. The results of audience polls will be incorporated into the performance seamlessly with no break in the action. There are currently nine possible endings for the show, all vastly different from one another," she remarked.
Like Nagle, Connor Defevers '27 of Fort Thomas, Kentucky, is also serving as a writer for the production. His other contributions include technology troubleshooting and serving as assistant director and stunt coordinator.
Defevers, who plans to attend graduate school for directing, sees the interactive cyber theatre experience as a "pivotal stepping stone towards his career goals." He sees the one-of-a-kind opportunity as something that can set him apart from others in the field.
"BW's Conservatory of Performing Arts creates opportunities for young artistic professionals to work alongside faculty professionals to learn while creating. This inspires students like me to go out into the world with boldness and boundless creativity to keep questioning, to keep building and to keep inventing," emphasized Defevers, a BFA in acting major.
For the audience, Defevers envisions a similar benefit of introducing them to an empowering role that is new and participatory.
"I want audiences to be inspired by our project," stated Defevers. "I want people to know that it is possible to invite audiences into our creative processes. In this production, we are completely tearing down the walls between audience and actors. We are creating something amazing and captivating."
As opening night draws near, Nagle and the others are excited, a bit nervous and ready to showcase their creative and technical talent.
"This has by far been the most eye-opening artistic experience I have ever been involved in. It truly is a magical experience to see these ideas we thought were so 'out there' be used right in front of our eyes with an immense amount of faith, teamwork and commitment," she said.
"Personally, this project has given me a newfound sense of confidence as an artist that I have never felt before. The nature of this project, as a whole, is such a bold thing to take on," she admitted.
"Playing a part in something so technically and artistically ambitious and seeing firsthand how it was built from the ground up has placed a newfound confidence in my artistry that tells me — you can do it even though it seems impossible, and the result will be so very rewarding," she added humbly and with genuine reflection.
For more information about the production, contact Rayna Burlison at rburliso22@bw.edu.
In addition to BFA in acting majors, the course and show also have students majoring in Bachelor of Arts in acting and directing, stage management, media production and film studies.
