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Virtual Play: Honest Roots

Play Summary:

“It’s that time of year: YouTube’s Fun in Fundraising is looking to raise beaucoup bucks for non-profit organizations. All that wellness guru Nina Bewell wants to do is raise money to fight the meat industry and greenhouse gases, but first, the up-and-coming streamer must deal with a series of strange mistakes tugging on the strings that hold together her live stream. Conceived and written for Zoom in an immersive learning class about virtual theatre, “Honest Roots” is a fully virtual production that will have your eyes flying from chat to screen to see what happens next. As Nina attempts to get to the bottom of things, this interactive virtual production will be sure to keep you guessing on who’s in control and who’s a pawn in the game.”

Creation Journey:

The play Honest Roots is much different than it was when initially pitched. Originally, the focus of the story was going to be horror-based, drawing inspiration from mystery and horror ARGs, Artificial Reality Games. One of the biggest challenges of Zoom theatre is bringing the audience into the world of the show. In regular theatre, there is only one separation between the audience and storyteller, which is known as the fourth wall. In Zoom theatre, you have not only the fourth wall, but you also have a physical separation between the world on the screen and the world on the audience's couch. ARGs work well in bridging this gap as they ask the audience to enter the world and participate in the experience. Although our story has grown from its initial pitch, our primary focus is still the question of "how can we ask our audience to come with us?" We have put a lot of work into the show and we hope you enjoy the performance.

Challenges Encountered:

  1. Figuring out how to screen share multiple mediums at the same time.
  2. Building suspense within the plot.
  3. Figuring out the relationship dynamic between the two characters.

Project Successes:

  1. Using manipulation as a storytelling tactic.
  2. Incorporating video, image, and sound tech elements into the story.
  3. Creative use of the chat function on zoom in order to interact directly with the audience.

A scene from an early draft.

Playwrite: Gayle Radwick 

Co-Directors: Nor White & Sarai Heylmun

Stage Manager: Liz Patton

Nina: Paige Demba

Peyton: Shelby Brown

Virtual Play: Honest Roots