Where? Visy Theatre, Brisbane Powerhouse
When? 17 – 21 October
Presented as part of the annual Brisbane International Film Festival (BIFF), Frogman is a multi-sensory contemporary performance event that fuses live theatre with binaural sound to submerge the audience deep into the Great Barrier Reef.
Existing at the crossroads of performance and technology, Frogman is a coming-of-age thriller from curious directive, exploring the fragility of childhood imagination by allowing audiences to experience and re-examine a fictional murder in 360-degree virtual reality.
It is 1995, and 11-year-old Meera’s first sleepover with best friends Lily and Shaun. Cassette recordings from the radio and Sega Mega Drive distract them from theories about Ashleigh’s disappearance while outside, on the Great Barrier Reef, police divers are on a search-and-rescue mission by torchlight.
Frogman aims to blur the lines between reality and fiction and the physical and virtual worlds, changing the storytelling norm in a theatre environment through the use of VR headsets by inviting the audience to explore the flashback moments through this medium.
“curious directive’s relationship with science, technology and theatre communities alike has allowed us to create a carefully layered and emotionally charged science-led production,” said Frogman performer Georgina Strawson.
Brisbane Powerhouse Artistic Director Kris Stewart says that the incorporation of technology is a beautiful fusion of media that will resonate with all ages.
“We really pride ourselves on the fact that Brisbane Powerhouse can be a meeting place for different kinds of creators who are focused on the future of storytelling,” Kris said.
“It’s exciting to be part of BIFF 2018 with a theatre and VR performance that takes the immediacy of photo performance and matches it with cutting-edge 360-degree video that opens up storytelling in a completely new way.”
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