LAWRENCE JOURNAL-WORLD
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
AUGUST 1996 3F
Room with a virtual view
Audiences will have to gear up for 'Wings'
The sophisticated headgear that audiences will have to wear during "Wings" projects imagery that is translucent enough for viewers to still see the stage.
MIKE YODER/JOURNAL-WORLD PHOTO
- A new production takes technology to its onstage limits.
BY MARK LUCE
JOURNAL-WORLD WRITER
Without technology, theater would be nothing but naked actors sitting in the dark.
For Mark Reaney, Kansas University associate professor of theater and film, technology has led to a new type of theater that incorporates the high-tech world of virtual reality.
After the success of the KU production "The Adding Machine," which incorporated computer generated three-dimensional imagery and real-time video projection and had audiences wearing polarized glasses, Reaney and director Ron Willis, KU professor of theater and film, are teaming up for a more sophisticated attempt at melding theater and technology in the upcoming production of "Wings," by Arthur Copit.
"A basic level of technology is essential to the theater, and the high-tech is something we are just trying to find out about," Reaney said. There are only a handful of plays I know of that call for virtual reality or computer
graphics, but that is going to change. As the world gets more and more reliant on things like the Internet and electronic communications, playwrights will write plays to reflect that change."
The foremost difference between "The Adding Machine" and "Wings" will be the addition of audience headgear. These head-mounted displays will allow projections to be placed directly in
front of the audience's vision but are translucent so that the stage can be seen. At around $375 apiece the contraptions are expensive, but Reaney said he hopes to be able to seat 100 patrons in KU's Inge Theatre.
"This really is experimental theater and it belongs in an experimental space," Reaney said. "Even at a casual glance the project is overwhelming. We have many more options
than we have time to do them in."
With the virtual reality world changing daily, Reaney said he hopes to reach a technology plateau early in the fall and hold on until the show goes up. This means making software do what it's not designed to do, coordinating a bank of several computers and tons of experimenting, in addition to working hand in hand with Willis and the actors.
Although there are some stodgy critics who guard "traditional" theater vehemently and question virtual reality's place in productions, Reaney said, they are misguided.
"We have live actors and a live audience together having a presence," he said. "And the audience's presence with each other is very important in what separates theater from TV and film. We are not taking the live actor out of the mix; it is still the focus.
"People objected when lights and recorded sound came into the theater, and now those things are commonplace. Theater should reflect society. It should comment on what's going on. If we are in the information age, then theater should talk about it."
Mark Reaney, Kansas University associate professor of theater and film
"There are only a handful of plays I know of that call for virtual reality or computer graphics, but that is going to change."
Willis, who also directed "The Adding Machine," has nothing but praise for Reaney's tireless efforts to be a pioneer in this emerging field.
"Mark has a willingness to explore uncharted territory, to prod the way we conceptualize the theater event. to
rethink fundamental issues when facing technology as challenging and awe-inspiring," he said.
"... When we challenge long-held but unexamined perspectives," he said, "we get a renewed sense of appropriateness and a new sense of vigor."
Lied Center to offer family series
Continued from page 2F
Quartet with bluegrass and jazz banjo player Bela Fleck.
New Directions Series
- 8 p.m. Oct. 22, Sankai Juku, Japanese Butoh dance company, in a return appearance. The troupe is known for its fluid, apparently boneless movements and striking visual effects.
- 8 p.m. Nov. 2, the National Song and Dance Ensemble of Tibet, on its first tour outside of Tibet. The performance features 6-foot horns, gongs, barrel drums and chanting.
- 8 p.m. Feb. 21 and 22 and 7
p.m. Feb. 23, STOMP, an eight-
- 8 p.m. Jan. 28, Mercy Cunningham modern dance company.
member percussion group. The troupe appeared on this year's Academy Awards broadcast.
- 8 p.m. March 18, Streb/Ringside dance company in "Popaction." The dancers test the limits of physical motion bouncing and crashing off surfaces.
Broadway series
8 * p. 18, Nov. 15 and 16, the rock opera "Tommy," created by The Who. The opera has won five Tony Awards.
8 . p.m. Feb. 7, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Feb. 8 and 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Feb. 9,
"Carousel." The production applies
new choreography and design to
Rodgers and Hammerstein's classic
fable of love and redemption.
2. p 1.m. and 7 p.m. March 2,
"The Sound of Music."
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EIGHTH ANNUAL LAWRENCE INDIAN ARTS SHOW September 7 through October 20,1996
Lawrence, Kansas
The University of Kansas Museum of Anthropology, Haskell Indian Nations University. Lawrence Arts Center
Juried Competition Show and Sale Museum of Anthropology September 7-October 20 Monday-Saturday 9 am - 5 pm; Sunday 1-5 pm Admission: $3 adults,$1 students; under 5 Free)
Benefit Opening (Awards Ceremony/
Art Preview/Reception/Silent Auction)
Museum of Anthropology
Friday, September 6, 7:30-9:30 pm
(by reservation, $35.00 per person)
Recent Works by Navajo Indian artist
Baje Whitethorne
Lawrence Arts Center, 9th and Vermont
September 6 - October 2
Monday-Friday 9 am-5 pm; Saturday 9 am-3 pm
(no admission charge to the public)
Haskell IndianArt Market Haskell Indian Nations University September 7 and 8 Saturday 10-6,Sunday 10-5 (no admission charge to the public)
Hopi/Tewa Indian Pottery Workshop with Mark Tahbo Museum of Anthropology October 14-19 (Advanced registration;Fee charged)
An Exhibition of Hopi/Tewa Pottery
Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas
September 7 - October 20
Tuesday-Saturday 10:00 am-5 pm;
Thursday till 9:00 pm; Sunday Noon-5 pm
(no admission charge to the public)
Book Discussions: Native American Writers of the Plains Lawrence Public Library, 7th & Vermont September 11 and 26; October 9 and 23 (for series registration call the Public Library at 843-1178)
For more information contact: Maria S. Martin (913) 864-4245 or write: LIAS, K.U. Museum of Anthropology, Spooner Hall, Lawrence, K6045