Saturday, August 19, 2006

Super Vision

Last night I attended a performance of Super Vision at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. Going in, I didn't know anything about it other than that it looked very high-tech. And indeed this was probably the most high-tech multimedia show I've ever seen. The actors perform between 2 screen which move & have computer generated & real-time images projected on them. The technicians controlling the visual & audio effects sit in darkness on stage, making the process look somewhat transparent. 2 other actors perform to video cameras at the edges of the stage & interact with the "real" characters via their projected performances.

The show was often stunning to watch, but the script was thin. The script raises issues rather than developing characters or a compelling story lines. The only character that came across as a warm human being was the sassy Sri Lankan grandma who appears on a Web cam. Actually I thought the most powerful part of the show was its opening monologue. With the help of the Claritas database, an actor profiled the audience using information gleaned from credit cards used to pay for tickets for the show. This was a truly vivid illustration of the issues of data privacy.

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