Inspire Workshop
R. U. Human?
In this project, the performance is based upon a script, whereas the presentation is delivered through vlogging and streaming of videography. Inspired by the indeterminate and interactive nature of role-playing games, storytrails and virtual community chatrooms, the plot unfolds according to the indicators of the viewers’ reaction and real-time discussions online. The creative team also incorporates media techniques commonly used in video and visual arts, such as the data visualisation and sonification, to explore the interactive, immersive and sensory aspects particular to the virtual and digital era.
Inspire Workshop
Inspire Workshop was founded by a group of students from the School of Theatre and Entertainment Arts of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. The company’s 2015 production, Deconstructed, was nominated for Best Director, Best Actress and Best Actor at the Hong Kong Theatre Libre.
Change the Game; Reflect on Reality
Merging theatre with online adventure game, R. U. Human? invites audience to immerse themselves in a space where the virtual meets the real, while reflecting on subjects related to humanity and technology. The interactive performance, which takes place on online conferencing platform Gather.town, is based on classic sci-fi play R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots) by Czech playwright Karel Čapek. As part of the work, the real-time data collected during the performance will undergo sonification to accompany a live performance video.
In face of robot rebellion, the audience acts as the factory’s key decision maker. They interact with the characters and objects in the form of a virtual avatar to advance the story and usher in different endings. At the end, the participants return to Karel Čapek’s reality to explore issues and ideas in the play from the playwright’s perspective.
