The National Theatre's Pioneering Fusion of VR Technology and the Arts

The National Theatre in London has established an Immersive Storytelling Studio with the goal of investigating how emerging technologies such as Virtual, Mixed, and Augmented Reality can amplify and enrich the realm of dramatic storytelling. Through this endeavour, the National Theatre is actively exploring ways to immerse the audience in the perspectives of diverse characters.

In the ever-evolving world of the performing arts, the National Theatre stands out as an exemplary institution for its integration of Virtual Reality (VR) technology into the realms of music, museums, and cinema. While the National Theatre hasn’t ventured into VR productions for opera, its work serves as a prime example of how VR technology can merge with various art forms, transcending traditional boundaries and enhancing artistic experiences.

The Studio’s array of projects has been showcased at venues and events, including the Venice, Sundance, Tribeca, and London Film Festivals, as well as at IDFA, The Young Vic, MoMA, and TATE Modern. The artistic portfolio included in this article concerns three prominent projects, each falling within the domains of theatre, museum, and cinema. These projects are respectively titled: “AMMA“, “Museum of Austerity,” and “Draw Me Close.”

Supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and the National Theatre Immersive Storytelling Studio, AMMA is an innovative virtual reality production by Tara Theatre that immerses audiences in the memories of a woman who lived through the War of Independence in Bangladesh and later rebuilt her life in 1970s and 1980s Britain. This groundbreaking experience combines 360 VR storytelling with real-life testimonies from Bangladeshi women in various UK cities. Supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and the National Theatre Immersive Storytelling Studio, “AMMA” sheds light on the often unheard stories of women during the War of Independence in Bangladesh, providing a captivating and deeply affecting journey through time and space.

Museum of Austerity is a mixed reality exhibition that preserves memories of the austerity era through verbal testimony, original music, and volumetric capture. It has received acclaim at the London Film Festival and the IDFA Festival.

Draw Me Close blurs live performance, virtual reality, and animation to create a vivid memoir about a mother-son relationship over twenty-five years. The audience becomes the protagonist, Jordan, inside a live, animated world.