Telepresence Stage is a virtual performance project led by the School of Art and Media at the University of Brighton in collaboration with LASALLE College of the Arts in Singapore and the Third Space Network in Washington DC.

The onset of the Covid-19 pandemic left many people in the performing arts sector unsupported and without work. The Telepresence Stage project led by Paul Sermon at the University of Brighton developed techniques using affordable technologies to connect theatre and dance performers within virtual sets, allowing participants to rehearse and perform together while in remote locations.

The project developed an alternative to typical Zoom interactions using Skype, green screen technology, virtual set design and video production creating a platform allowing performers to superimpose their bodies into a virtual set for online performances with full body interaction.

Ten performing arts groups completed residencies with Telepresence Stage developing virtual live-streamed performances that sought to maintain the uniqueness of live stage performance through unique online techniques.

Photos from telepresencestage.org

The Telepresence Stage project provided performing arts professionals with a stage when they otherwise would not have had one and provided tools and resources to assist them in continuing to adapt their work to an online setting.

“Together we shared a space to perform, play and improvise, telling our stories of self-isolation in a new found telematic intimacy that broke free from the constraints of those video chat windows we have become so accustomed to. Telematic Quarantine was a layered video environment and experience of domesticity, fantasy and dream in COVID-19 times.” - Paul Sermon