NO ONE
WOULD
HAVE
SUSPECTED
IN THE
LAST
YEARS
OF THE
LAST
CENTURY
THAT A
MEDIUM
SIZED
TOWN IN
THE
MIDDLE
OF
THE
MIDDLE
OF
ENGLAND
WAS BEING
WATCHED
WAS BEING
FRAMED
NO ONE
WOULD
HAVE
SUSPECTED
IN THE
LAST
YEARS
OF THE
LAST
CENTURY
THAT A
MEDIUM
SIZED
TOWN IN
THE
MIDDLE OF
THE
MIDDLE
OF
ENGLAND
WAS BEING
WATCHED
WAS BEING
FRAMED
2 MINUTES OF BLISS
Two Minutes of Bliss explored the trappings of theatre and the reality of cyberspace.
It was about artificial intelligence, fake identities and fictional time and space - all ideas common to theatre and virtual reality.
It was about artificial intelligence, fake identities and fictional time and space - all ideas common to theatre and virtual reality.
The performance was structured from many 2 minute long scenes. The scenes were
for performers, video, sound or slide projection. They could be presented
simultaneously and in various orders.... thus the piece was different at each
presentation.
There were various narrative strands which focussed on:
• Oscar Wilde's The Importance of being Earnest: (a play in which artificial characters adopt fake identities and tell lies until the hero discovers he is already who he has pretended to be all along).
• Alan Turing's tests of Artificial Intelligence: Turing believed that by the end of the 20th century science would have produced a computer capable of passing the Turing Test i.e. behaving convincingly as a human being.
• Blind Jack's Skinhead Theatre: an internet based performance space where actors lay on lengthy and dangerous tours of the theatre for visitors
• Oscar Wilde's The Importance of being Earnest: (a play in which artificial characters adopt fake identities and tell lies until the hero discovers he is already who he has pretended to be all along).
• Alan Turing's tests of Artificial Intelligence: Turing believed that by the end of the 20th century science would have produced a computer capable of passing the Turing Test i.e. behaving convincingly as a human being.
• Blind Jack's Skinhead Theatre: an internet based performance space where actors lay on lengthy and dangerous tours of the theatre for visitors
The show, which toured in the UK, was performed by Matt Brennan, Liz Swift and Peter Ireland and included multi tracked sound, videos shown on three monitors, slide projections onto six screens, four of which were made of semi opaque fabric and rigged in parallel to each other facing the audience. It also pioneered the use of hypertext in its script which included ‘hyper-linked’ phrases where the actor could choose whether to continue or jump to a new section of the text – see example. The piece involved many costume changes, scene changes, and extensive use of theatrical props including those necessary for portraying a sea battle.