Student performers from three universities—University of Central Florida (UCF) in Orlando, Bradley University in Illinois, and University of Waterloo in Canada—leapt from stage to stage in a digital-age version of Lewis Carroll’s classic that achieves the latest breakthroughs in distance theatre technology. Alice Experiments In Wonderland merged the three university stages, casts, and audiences into one interactive experience, as spectators went through the looking glass and into an innovative wonderland created via Internet2 high-speed connection (as much as 150Mbit/s), 2D and 3D sets, and multiple screens.

The co-directors for Alice were George Brown, chair of theatre at Bradley University, Gerd Hauck, chair of theatre at University of Waterloo, and me.
Together, our theatres created a one-of-a-kind project that proves that a unified design concept and production can be executed for the benefit of audiences at multiple sites using broadband technology in an affordable fashion. Alice is the third distance collaboration between UCF and Bradley and the second among the three partners. This type of theatre has been called “convergent theatre” because the production depends on the convergence of technology and other disciplines with live theatre.

Brown is usually modest about his achievements, but in candid moments, he has written, “We are doing something tonight [with Alice] that has never been done before…we will be making history.” Canada’s The Globe and Mail ran the following: “Welcome to one of the most ambitious, experimental theatre projects ever conceived—Alice (Experiments in Wonderland)—a multipoint telematic performance for children and adults.” Hauck is quoted in The Record saying, “It’s the first time in theatrical history.”

I concur with my colleagues. Brown’s directorial masterpiece, Adding Machine (“Add It Up,” LD July 2007), still stands as the most skillful and unified integration of digital/distance technology to date. It used sophisticated 3D modeling environments created by Jim Ferolo. However, Alice was the next logical step, the merger not only of actors in different venues with one audience, but of three audiences with three complete casts performing together as one in a unified design environment that transcended space. The goals, challenges, and successes of Alice were different and have created a replicable and affordable paradigm that others may follow and improve upon. The room for growth in convergent theatre is amazing.
An important point is that, at our location, we used our normal operating budget and came in more than 20% under. Satellite technology is too cost-prohibitive for most theatres. In 2005, American Theatre wrote, “If you had to judge by what is happening on contemporary American stages, you’d never know that the Microchip Age is in full swing.” The reason for this has been simple: budget.

But, Alice was unlike other distance projects. Other institutions can build upon the paradigm created for Alice because the methods we used are affordable and exciting for theatre artists and audiences. This production has proven that broadband multipoint full-production collaborations are within the reach of any institution with the determination to explore new artistic possibilities.

The simple logistics of merging full production calendars of a medium sized private institution in Illinois, a medium-sized Canadian public institution with different academic terms, and the sixth largest public university in the US were daunting. The task was led by UCF student and production stage manager Leah Higginbotham (advised by Disney professionals) and her counterparts Jessica Moore at Waterloo and Justine Palmisano at Bradley. During Alice, they were all linked through Skype and AIM. Logistics and clear communication (as in Adding Machine) continue to be the two most consistent challenges with this type of collaboration. It is very easy at a distance to assume you know what your partners are thinking when you really do not.

The design and script were based on the imagination of a modern, 11-year old girl, reflecting the world she knows, complete with iPods, Internet, cell phones, and pop-culture. This is why the Caterpillar costume was built from floating green pool noodles (imagine trying to find pool noodles in Canada in winter). There was a global lead designer for the project and a local designer at each site. UCF held a formal global designer meeting as early as March 2007. This included all global designers except sound and hair/make-up. These positions were selected at a later meeting when Brown and Hauck visited UCF. I had already visited Bradley in 2004 and Waterloo in January 2007. Set and costume construction were done locally and globally but executed to keep the design unified, while allowing for performance space differences. UCF had the largest stage space, followed by Waterloo, and then Bradley. All were quite different physical structures with different audience seating. An example of how this worked may be seen in the sails/screens. These were all cut at UCF and shipped to our partners after discussion with the local designers. The screens function equally as well for front and rear projection. The material was also very cost effective. This was a major goal for Alice; we wanted this project to encourage other institutional forays into the realm of collaborative possibilities. We also wanted to break away from the rectangular shape associated with projected imagery. The design reflects this desire. Screen fabrication was by Curtiss Mitchell, who was an outside hire.

Costume construction was sometimes a local build and sometimes a global build and then shared. The costumes for three White Rabbits, three Cheshire Cats, and three sets of Tweedles (Dee and Dum) were built at partner institutions and shipped to UCF, while UCF constructed and shipped other items, like the three Gnat’s heads. Some costumes, such as the Caterpillars, were built locally.

The three shop teams used their collective knowledge to execute costumes from the global lead costume designer, Tan Huaixiang, while sharing effective cost reduction measures. Some characters existed only locally; others were replicated and existed globally, so the illusion could be explored of the Cheshire Cat and the White Rabbit, for example, traveling into and occupying all spaces. Those involved with costume construction are to be commended for adapting so well to this new production environment. Theirs was the smoothest development and execution of design and reveals a new system of shop protocols.

Media Design
Media creation was a happy collaboration to which all locations contributed, coordinated by global lead designer Vandy Wood and the co-directors. Waterloo student Monty Martin contributed the opening montage, while Brown provided key content, including the Technowizard entrance and the parental control piece that Alice activates during a search for “bunnies” that takes the audience briefly into the dark side of the Internet. UCF designers were key in developing the Rabbit Hole media, the giant Alice “drink me” scene, the Carpenter and Walrus scene, the “Bread and Butter Fly” sequence, the Mushrooms, and the Jabberwocky. Both PC and Mac systems were employed, and of course, the data files for these elements were quite large. Bradley supported a server where the teams could post media creations, and partners could readily exchange work. Some UCF content was created with digitally enhanced puppets that were designed by an outside professional in collaboration with Wood.

Networking
Network personnel at all locations were key to this project. UCF would have been lost without the assistance of its Network Operations Center, and the same may be said of Waterloo and Bradley’s networking offices. While we explored the possibilities of multicasting, which would have lowered bandwidth usage, we settled on uni-casting for the event. Each site both sent and received approximately 75Mbit/s. Non-networking folks would just call it a total of 150
Mbit/s, but networking types insist on the difference.

However, while comparing information, we discovered differences in institutional measurements for the exact rate of data transfer. The explanation turned out to be that the result varies depending upon where in the broadband pipeline the measurement is taken due to non-production related packet traffic. During Adding Machine, it was not necessary for Waterloo and UCF to connect to each other. In fact, Waterloo and UCF took turns connecting to Bradley because of the resulting loss of quality signal when all three were connected simultaneously. Adding Machine stage managers used telephones to “cue” the other sites to reconnect and participate in their scenes. This arrangement would not work for Alice. Without the networking departments of all three institutions working together, the connectivity and higher networking demands of Alice would not have been achieved. As a result, more bandwidth and computers were successfully used at peak sustained broadband usage during the entire length of the show. We used
Polycom for discussions/global production meetings and DVTS for performance.

Costume designs, under global lead costume designer Tan Huaixiang, were based on the imagination of a modern, 11-year-old girl, complete with iPods, Internet, cell phones, and pop-culture.

Unlike during Adding Machine, this time, all sites used multiple cameras and switchers. In addition to the stages, each site used a local studio. While no green-screening took place in Orlando, we used the studio to lower production costs while maintaining production quality. For example, Humpty Dumpty was shot in the UCF studio, live. His wall appeared to be much larger and higher than it actually was, due to the camera angle, so we did not have the expense of building an entire wall to complete the illusion. This wall appeared in all three locations, lowering construction costs for all. We also used the studio when Alice expands and becomes too large to fit through the door. A combination of an extreme close-up of her foot and a miniature set created a cost-effective illusion.