Experimental play explores boundaries of virtual world

Photo: Courtesy of Meng Jinghui

"Every revolution in technology brings a renaissance in art," well-known Chinese theater director Meng Jinghui told the Global Times in an interview. His most recent efforts seek to bring a unique theater play to people everywhere through the power of the internet.

Integrating modern technology into stage theater, Meng's international theater festival exploring the notion of the Metaverse will be held from April 15 until May 7 with the participation of hundreds of artists from all over the nation. 

Meng, one of the producers of the festival, stated that he expects to showcase domestic drama performances in a novel manner through virtual reality (VR) and investigate new opportunities for Chinese drama performances in contemporary society.

"This Metaverse Theater Festival is an experiment," Meng told the Global Times. "Following the birth of movies, this is also another new age for theater artists and global technology to combine together."

In order to break the limits of the physical stage, the theater, named the Sphinx Meta Theater Festival after the mythological creature from Egyptian lore, uses a variety of core technologies, including VR, artificial intelligence (AI), and even blockchain and cloud computing to support the development of theater.

For example, a total of 83 spectacular futuristic AI-generated posters were produced with the help of 83 guests from various walks of life, including artists, celebrities, magazine editors and tech company CEOs, to showcase the future theater in China.

The festival's opening play, Faust, directed by Meng, will usher in a new age of theater by fusing reality and the virtual. 

Photo: Courtesy of Meng Jinghui

As one of the most well-known and important experimental avant-garde directors in China since the 1980s, Meng has had a significant impact on the contemporary Chinese theater scene.

His new show Faust, adapted from the masterpiece of German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, will be presented with the assistance of high technology.

Talking about the reason why he chose the story of Dr Faust, Meng explained to the Global Times that the idea of presenting a Metaverse drama came before his choice of story.

"First of all, I wanted to make a metaverse drama," Meng said. 

"Faust fits just fine. The devil has allowed Faust to have so many abilities, which are like the possibilities that the Metaverse has given human beings. Since human beings have developed technology to explore and conquer the world, now we're on our way to explore our spiritual world, which is indeed very Faustian."  

Here in Faust, VR technology is one of the major technologies used in the play. 

To an extent, during a stage play, digital parts will be added in with the help of a technical team who has created digital images of characters such as Faust, the Devil and Mrs Faust. 

According to the director, the digital roles will also interact with the actors on the stage during the play, to present a multi-dimensional interactive and immersive performance to audiences.

In addition, the application of digital technology also requires huge investment, including both human and financial resources, which may subvert the production standards of traditional dramas, Meng said.

"Therefore we need to take advantage of technology. Digital technology has brought huge opportunities for the future transformation of our theater industry. It is possible that we can more easily create more complex and realistic characters for the stage. Digital technology also allows us to present scenes and special effects that were previ-ously impossible on a bare stage," Meng added.