Primrose Road

Did anybody else catch last night's performance of Act I, Scene I of Hamlet in Second Life? I don't regularly "play" Second Life (way too much to manage in Life #1), but since I'm writing a dissertation on Early Modern drama and new media, I had to check this performance out.

(Hat tip to Intute Arts and Humanities Blog for sending this one our way.)

Convergence, convergence, convergence: Second Life avatars on a virtual stage playing for an audience of actors in a fairly accurate-looking replica of the Globe theater with an interface that permits users to view the scenes from a variety of "movie camera" angles.

A fellow audience member brought up an interesting logistical issue: performances should have taken place during the day, as they did in the "first life" Globe. Without any "natural" lighting (and despite the full moon), the area was somewhat difficult to navigate.

They have a slew of performances going on this week and next in case you want to take your avatar out for some Shakespearin'.