Alternative Rehearsal Platforms

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Companies of all kinds integrated remote work solutions for their employees, and remote or hybrid office arrangements remain popular post-pandemic alongside a push to return to the office. , for instance, about 37% of employees routinely worked from home in 2023, which was down slightly from a peak of 40% in 2021, when Covid-related lockdowns and isolation requirements were in place in several Australian states.

The most common tools used in remote work are task management and messaging platforms like Slack or Microsoft Teams, and videoconferencing programs like Zoom. While theatre makers have integrated related tools into their workflow, virtual reality might provide a better space to rehearse if remote rehearsal is required for a long time. In their systemic overview of remote XR collaboration, that VR increases the sense of presence with others through avatar embodiment and connection between the individual’s physical movements in ‘meatspace’ being linked to their movements in cyberspace. They also suggest that the presence of another avatar can reflect physicality in a loosely similar way as in-person, face-to-face collaborations, which rely on body language and facial expression. Pidel and Ackermann noted that not all forms of remote collaboration needed embodiment in VR, but theatre makers can infer that physically-driven work like blocking scenes or creating choreography could benefit from this type of embodiment.

In the article ‘Theatre professor blends virtual reality, AI, and tradition’, James Dennen, a theatre professor at Ohio State University, who created a performance titled Like Leaves, Like Carrots. ‘Actors and directors must interact in the same shared and intimate space for a production to flourish. The theatre director tried staging rehearsals with actors spread out across the country on a teleconference but found the experience unproductive. … Why not hold rehearsals in virtual reality?’ This venue allowed performers a greater sense of embodiment and togetherness, which seems to have translated into the in-person performance.

Virtual reality headsets are still quite expensive so for most theatre makers and companies, it does not make sense to upgrade equipment just to have the option of this type of embodied remote work. However, there is a potential benefit for creative collaborators who need to physically work together, but do not have the option for a significant part of the rehearsal process – for example, international collaborators could save money on flights, accommodation, and related travel costs by starting this type of remote work and shifting to in-person when possible.