A Motion-Capture Midsummer Night's Dream

A Midsummer Night's Dream was my theatre directing MFA thesis production at York University.

Staged in March 2013, it used facial motion capture to live-animate a 3D computer-generated donkey head for Bottom, among other way-cool tech-driven fairy magic.

I wrote the blog Action Refraction during the process from 2012-2013, using it as a place to collect and share tech and creative inspirations and other musings with the company.

That utterly fabulous and nerve-wracking experience taught me a huge amount about using bleeding-edge technology in live theatre, but clearly not enough not to do it again...

Click here for more production photos.

Phade Up

In 2009-2010, I wrote a blog while assistant directing on Carey Perloff's production of Phèdre at the  Stratford Shakespeare Festival and the American Conservatory Theater.

Here are my favourite posts from Phade Up:

Farouche: Phedre and the Half-Blood Prince
This one's a threefer. Originally three blog-posts long, and with lots of pictures, but it does manage to tie ostrich feathers to tall sharpened stakes and still make sense at the end.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to Trezene
Anyone who's ever vented their spleen on the leaves of a myrtle will be able to relate.

Need to Know
For the fanboys and girls.

Clouds from Both Sides
Translation fun with BabelFish.

Alexandrine in Five Times
Wondering how Hippolytus would sound spilling his guts to Aricie in the language of love? Contains not one but two clips of Phèdre in the original French - one from 2003, and one circa 1968, complete with jaguar skin!

Shock Absorbers
On Squeamishness.

And a two-part look at a parallel story from Scripture, full of sex, lies and video of Donny Osmond:
Hell Hath No Fury like Potiphar's Wife and When Love Gives You Lemons.

Enjoy!