And if you look to your left, you will see your own reflection in a gilded mirror. You will appear haggard, bloody, ferocious and, in fact, dead. Because in this virtual reality version of Shakespeare, you are the ghost of Hamlet’s murdered father.
Monday, February 04, 2019
‘Hamlet’ in virtual reality casts the viewer in the play
And if you look to your left, you will see your own reflection in a gilded mirror. You will appear haggard, bloody, ferocious and, in fact, dead. Because in this virtual reality version of Shakespeare, you are the ghost of Hamlet’s murdered father.
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3 comments:
It's exciting that one of the goals is to apply this format to an educational aspect. I don't know how many of my friends have a personal vendetta against Shakespeare because of being forced to read and analyze it in English. No matter how much you like the play or the playwright there is only so many times you can Sparknotes a play just to take a test on it. If I could have re-done our Shakespeare unit while having this sort of virtual reality experience, I definitely would have gotten more out of it. I'm a very visual learner, and I remember Hamlet made no sense to me until I saw the 1996 Kenneth Branagh adaptation. If I can't see it, I can guarantee you I won't be able to retain the information. Despite the struggles of producing this piece, I would like to see if they continue to expand on the technology and create this sort of setting for more plays.
The idea of bringing Shakespeare into the world of virtual reality is exciting because it will entice people who do not engage actively with theatre, especially these classic texts. The notion of Shakespeare can seem incredibly intimidating to many individuals, so they just steer clear of it. Bringing the plays into education, specifically the public-school system, can often be a hit or miss. When I read A Midsummer Night’s Dream in middle school, about half of my class enjoyed the liveliness of the characters and the story. The other half decided that they simply did not like Shakespeare, possibly turning them away forever. This interactive experience differs because it allows viewers to immerse themselves in the story. While this is also a goal of theatre itself, simply reading a play is not always enough to intrigue an audience. I appreciate the lines at the end of the article explaining how this would detract or replace a theatrical experience but enhance the engagement of a new audience.
What an interesting concept. I think that bringing plays into Virtual reality can definitely democratize them, however, I wonder at what cost. To create a sixty-one minute version of Hamlet feels like they’re not doing the Shakespearean story justice, but I think that might be part of the consequence of attempting to bring plays or other theatrical work into a mainstream format. Although, I don’t know if I’d really consider Virtual Reality as an easily accessible by the regular humans of the world. It’s still very expensive. I think that the mission of this project is very clever. Google recognized that there is a sizable void of content related to arts and culture in the Virtual Reality world, and when CommonWealth Shakespeare Company was able to propose a way to attempt to start filling that void, google jumped at the opportunity. I’d love to have the opportunity to experience this version of Hamlet in Virtual Reality, but I might just settle with watching it in 2D on my computer.
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