Do You Think It's Possible to Put Science Fiction On Stage? Alexander Lehman, 26 January 2014 People Present Chloe Mashiter Cahterine Fowles Bridgett Horley Rowan Williams-Fletcher Alex Rasleave Dan Phillips Aliki Kate O'Connor Rich Rasko02 Kat Heath Daniel Holton Michael John Harding Artists & Productions discussed: Rocky Horror Picture Show Ken Campbell - The Warp, Illuminatus! Trilogy staging of episodes of The Twilight Zone Spider-Man Turn Out the Dark Lord of the Rings Punchdrunk Dr. Who show (Crash of the Elysium) K-Pax Secret Cinema - Prometheus Crash (promenade performance of an impact site) Wooster Group mash-up of classic opera ‘Aeneas Returning from the War’ with projected B-sci fi film ‘La Didone’ Daisy Campbell - Cosmic Trigger Little Shop of Horrors AC/DC by Heathcote Williams an immersive production of Ghostbusters Summary Science Fiction is enjoying a heyday at the moment, which is both great, because it means there is an audience, and challenging, because public perception of sf is so dominated by special effects. This familiarity with film sf could make a theatrical sf show even more exciting, because of the enjoyment of seeing something impossible brought to life. - alien puppetry, for instance One participant adapted a Philip K. Dick story about 6 people being burned alive into an object performance where the people were portrayed by matches. There were a multitude of views on whether or how to portray technology and space on stage. Lots of suggestions for use of projection, scale models, puppetry, etc. to create atmospheres and space-scapes. We discussed both how difficult, and how easy, it would be to portray science fiction worlds. We both do not have the benefit of after-effects and sound stages, but do have the powerful tool of asking the audience to “play pretend” that we are in space - the same way we ask them to pretend we are in Elsinore. Star Wars begins with three simple paragraphs of text that give you all the context you need to understand the universe of the film. With the right preparation the audience will accept anything, but it is important to find the right way to invite them on the journey. Once the rules have been explained, it is important in sf to know the right place for the “info dump” portion of the set-up to drop away - where we know enough about the specialness of the concept that we can focus on the story. Too much table-setting, too much unnecessary back story and detail, wind up detracting. Great science fiction works on multiple levels and that great science fiction theatre would do the same. That at the end of the day the joy comes from seeing life through a novel or forward-looking lens and being taken to another world or time or perspective. These goals are infinitely possible on stage. One attendee brought up the tv series Orphan Black as a concept that could not possibly work on stage, and then challenged us to consider the contrary - what could we do that could only happen on stage? Some discussion of science fiction conventions as potential venues for science fiction performance. The thankfulness of science fiction fans who see sf done well on stage. Also cosplayers as a potential source of costume / set / prop makers. One attendee discussed a recent R&D project where his company are exploring the possible fallout from the Edward Snowden / NSA revelations - a future where tracking and surveillance are used to cull the population and control society. They have been exploring an aesthetic that involves a lot of darkness and a number of torches - a torch as hand-print scanner for instance. Brief touch upon big flops like Spider-Man and Lord of the Rings and whether such projects will inherently fail or if they failed because they were over-invested commercial ventures trying to cash in on successful film franchises. Sound and music are powerful tools for affecting audience, creating perception that we are in another world or another dimension. Multiple suggestions to stage / examples of staging sf as a radio play. Live foley work on stage can be theatrical in and of itself. In the end it was great to see so much interest and to discuss so many different ways of science fiction being on stage - from the small and poetic to the blow-out spectacular. Tags: science fiction, immersive theatre Comments: 2 Aliki Chapple, 27 January 2014 I forgot to say, do you know about this? https://www.facebook.com/stagethefuture I'm the one who was talking about matchsticks and about Daisy Campbell's Cosmic Trigger project. Email me for more about both, if you're interested : ) Wendy Thomson, 28 January 2014 Check out @WirelessTheatre latest Sci-Fi live recording (audio on stage) http://wirelesstheatre.co.uk/sci-fi-month-showcase/