090909 UpStage festival – live now – click to enter!

the first set of shows is over & has run without a hitch (or at least, without a visible hitch!). there was a great variety of shows, & all were consistently engaging & interesting.

first up was “maui and the sun”, by a group of school children from new zealand – a retelling of a traditional maori legend, with graphics & audio created by the children. this was followed by “lines” from the virtual theatre group in vancouver. they blew us away with introducing audience drawing – a new feature in UpStage! the show was beautiful & poetic.

“user profile” by meliors simms (nz) was also a poem, telling the story of an identity who goes back in time to the beginning of the internet; great visuals & sounds brought the poem to life. time also went backwards in “snow white & the seven chihuahuas”, in which the audience helped to decide the fate of snow white.

“4th wall” exploded walls of all kinds – 4th walls, screens, buildings, & we met the 5th walter – to be continued! some of the performers from this show jumped straight into the next, “durito’s dancing box manifesto” which mashed up a web cam feed with great music & theory. i can’t say too much about “karen karnak” because someone arrived at that time, & i was busy explaining UpStage & what was going on – so i’ll have to catch it at the next performance. that’s the great thing about the shows performing 2-3 times during the festival : )

“the dish” explored the creativity of the virtual kitchen; & the last show in the first set was “global karaoke” – a digital tribute to the jackson 5, which had everyone up from the keyboard & grooving in front of the screen.

the next set starts in less than half an hour & runs for 12 hours, so come & see what’s going on!