Embedded Files
Kiss
written by Guillermo Calderón
directed by Fadi Skeiker
Theatre Philadelphia 2022-2023 Barrymore Award for Outstanding Media Design
Two couples are planning a night in to watch TV. But an unexpected marriage proposal is just the beginning of the surprises. Kiss starts as a funny, melodramatic soap opera. It ultimately poses big questions about politics, translation, and cross-cultural understanding.
"Lifelike projections by Alan Price are integrated seamlessly with lights by Reza Behjat and sound by Damien Figueras. The groundbreaking projections (all cued in real time to be in sync with the actors) transport the audience in the closing scene, and will haunt your dreams (in a good way)." - Krista Mar, Feb 06, 2023, In Theater, Broad Street Review
January 31 – February 19, 2023
The Wilma Theater
Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA
Posterity
written by Wendy MacLeod
directed by Edward Sobel
In a captivating collage of stories – from the Civil War to 9/11 and up to the present moment – three families seek connection, meaning and solace through the modern miracle of photography. Award-winning playwright Wendy MacLeod brings to life intimate snapshots of parents, children, siblings and lovers, brilliantly capturing the universal longing to freeze time and cling to those we hold dear.
November 9 - 19, 2023
Villanova Theatre
Villanova PA
I Want a Country
written by Andreas Flourakis
directed by Fadi Skeiker
The Ira Brind School of Theater Arts, in collaboration with UArts’ Center for Immersive Media (CIM) shifted the theater experience for actors and audiences this fall of 2021.
While developing a production of I Want a Country—Greek playwright Andreas Flourakis’ exploration of immigration and the loss of social stability—director and Associate Professor Fadi Skeiker hoped to portray the feeling of being on a boat alongside Syrian refugees bound for Europe through traditional theater constructs. Former Dean Kym Moore surfaced the idea of incorporating projections into the production and, Skeiker said, the notion started small but quickly swelled, as the possibilities of projection-mapping were revealed.
Working closely with CIM Director Alan Price and students, Skeiker explored projection-mapping techniques, which transform irregularly shaped surfaces into displays for video projection, to make the audience feel as if they were on a boat in the middle of the ocean. The end result was so effective that a colleague told Skeiker he felt seasick while attending a performance.
The projections supported the ensemble cast as it interacted with the audience, encouraging the latter to move from one refugee tent to another and eventually leading it onto the boat bound for Europe. Seiker said the immersive elements were critical to the success of the production, since all the actors were required to wear face masks, which affected two of their most important theatrical tools: facial expressions and the quality of their voices.
Skeiker and Price’s united vision prompted Flourakis to call UArts’ production “one of the most beautiful” mounted in the decade since he wrote I Want a Country. In working together, Skeiker said, he and Price formed a new relationship that could further integrate immersive technology into the school’s future productions.
“I got to know him as an artist, and we clicked,” Skeiker recalled. “I would say something; he would fly with it. He would suggest something; I would agree on it. So we have this collaborative chemistry between us.”
September 16-20, 2021, Levitt Auditorium, Gershman Hall, University of the Arts
Illuminated Tapestry
Real time resposive animation in live performance - collaboration with BalletMet Columbus
The dance performance Illuminated Tapestry incorporated real time computer animation and custom electronics The original music score by composer Sean Beeson played on a separate computer with a midi control track that sent triggers to the first computer for scene changes and animation elements that were synchronized to the music.
An Xbox Kinect camera was suspended on the lighting grid 24 feet above the stage, which generated a 3D map of the dancers as they moved throughout the space using a custom application written in Processing. This 3D map data was sent over a network connection to the graphics computer using OSC. The transmitted map was then used to control the motion of a variety of visual elements in the computer animation.
The rear projection screen behind the dancers was 35 feet wide by 20 feet high. A 4K pixel resolution projection image was created by mounting four 1080p HD projectors in a 2x2 matrix using edge-blending and geometric correction to blend the four projections into a single large image.
Near the middle of the performance, six illuminated inflatables are brought out on the stage for the music sequence titled “Glimpse of Heaven”. Each of the spheres has an electronics box containing batteries and a high brightness RGB LED assembly. An Arduino Pro-mini microprocessor was programmed to send PWM (pulse-width-modulation) signals to the power MOSFET transistors that supply current to the LEDS, which results in the fading transitions between color combinations. A tilt-switch is also incorporated into the circuit and was initially used to detect vibrations in order to trigger color changes when touched. This feature was not used in the performance due to the final choreography, but has been re-activated here so that the colors will change each time a participant taps one of the spheres to send it higher into the air.
Illuminated Tapestry was a commissioned collaboration with BalletMet Columbus, and was part of DanceTech, perfomed at the Capiol Theater in Columbus, April 20-28, 2012
Dance choreographer: Jimmy Orrante
Music composer: Sean Beeson
Green Corn Dance
Six microphones, one for each musician, are connected to a computer rendering the visuals in real time. The sound of the performers trigger the rapid transitions between line drawings and appearance of film sequences, all of which are procedurally generated.
Music composition by John Luther Adams (1974), performed by students in the OSU Percussion Ensemble. Riffe Center Capital Theater, April 3 & 4, 2015
Dark Full Ride
Dark Full Ride is a composition for four drum sets by Julia Wolfe. Part one of the composition makes use of only high hats and cymbals. I created a responsive animation driven by the audio feeds from four microphones, one for each player.
With metal as a theme, paper clips, thumb tacks, staples, scissors, knifes, forks, keys, and finally the cymbals themselves are launched into the air as the drummers strike their instruments, the variations being driven by the amplitude and velocity of the playing, and as the composition progresses over time.
Dark Full Ride was performed by members of the OSU Percussion Ensemble at the Capitol Theater in Columbus, Ohio, as part of the Drums Downtown performance on February 18 & 19, 2011.
City Life
composition by Steve Reich
Real time computer animation accompanies the live ensemble performing Steve Reich's 24 minute composition. Behind the performers, a 35 x 20 foot rear projection screen displayed the computer animation using an array of HD projectors.
The animation was designed specifically for the live performance and as visual interpretation of Reich's composition. In this regard, the visuals are minimalistic and have long durations with the intent to let the viewers' eyes and minds wander as they absorb the music and observe the interplay of the live musicians on stage.
City Life is a minimalist composition by Steve Reich written in 1995. It is scored for 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 vibraphones, unpitched percussion, 2 samplers, 2 pianos, string quartet, and double bass. It uses digital samplers amongst the instruments used in performance, and these play back a wide variety of sounds and speech samples, including car horns, air brakes, car alarms and many other sounds associated with the city.
City Life was performed February 24 & 25, 2012 at the Capitol Theater, Columbus as part of the Drums Downtown event created by the OSU School of Music, in collaboration with the Department of Dance and ACCAD.
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