Virtual, Romeo & Juliet

Jointhesaga.com: Romeo and Juliet auditions

Auditions are taking place for a production of Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’. The director of the play, a recently arrived Dwarf by the name of Francis Bacon, is hoping to perform sometime in late spring or early [Read More...]

Normally, I don’t comment on audition postings, but this one is just flabbergasting. On the other hand, I knew it was just a matter of time.

It’s an audition call for a performance of Romeo & Juliet in the online roleplaying game Necromundus. Apparently the poison will be “real”, so that in the game the avatar of Romeo will die and the real world player will have to start a new character. The dagger will be just as “real” and kill Juliet (if she inflicts sufficient damage, I suppose).

The interesting thing is that – like other Shakespearean plots – this is a play-within-a-play. The actors playing Romeo and Juliet and all the other roles are themselves merely puppets of the real people at their computer keyboards. The auditions are not for actors in the real world, but for characters in the game who are actors, whether or not their “user” is an actor. There are a slew of great questions regarding identity and the nature of new media to ponder.

As we move to more visual virtual worlds in situations like Second Life, this will become more and more common. I believe that there will be a resurgence of 3D glasses, as we have seen in recent movies and at consumer electronic shows, which will make 3D immersion in these worlds more compelling. And, as the number of participants grows, the number of activities within these simulations will grow, and performance of Shakespeare will be one of those activities. It’s definitely on its way.

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