Second Life Live Music ReviewWritten by Enniv Zarf (RL: Paul Kwo)
Metaverse Music
Continuing my presentation of some of the other live events that are around Second Life, I want to share with you one of my absolute passion alongside music in my life.
Theatre has been in Second Life for a very long time, even before voice. Back then theatre was done using live stream while they try to semi-sync the avatars to the stream. Of course the delay varies computer by computer so it was not the easiest of experience.
But today with live voice, theatre productions have a lot more room for their productions. Though there are still voice chat lag, it is significantly easier for actors to navigate their avatars and voice act at the same time. We see avatar movements and interactions sometimes with even the musicians. I have seen a few singer/guitarists who would venture into the audience during their set to create more interaction. These certainly add to the entertainment value of the said performance.
Today in Second Life...
...there are a few major production companies around producing both ancient classics to modern new theatre works. ACT UP, Avatar Repertory Theatre, Broadway Live, Caledon and Second Life Shakespeare Company to name a few. There are of course many more that I don't know of.
The amount of work often put into these productions are absolutely admirable. Many of such productions come with elaborate sets, full costumes and a substantial cast members. Often times in the Second Life world of music we feel it's difficult to organize events with multiple performers. But when compared to such productions where multiple rehearsals are needed by multiple performers, plus the added instability of the Second Life Client, this task becomes even more insurmountable. Kudos to all those who organize and throw together live theatre shows in Second Life.
Theatre in Second Life is a different kind of experience then theatre in real life, or even film and television. The combination of lag and technical limitations combined with the limitations of graphics changes the perspective of what theatre is about here in the metaverse. The actors have to work extra hard to bring their characters to life similar to the great radio actors of the past. But on top of their voice acting, they have to be able to navigate, use animations and even do complete costumes and even avatar changes in the mist of what could be a lagtastic experience. I have seen theatre productions on 4 sim corners where there were near 130 avatars total while I was still with SLSC.
There are productions by various companies all throughout the year. A good group to join would be the Theatre Arts Network if you like to be kept up to date with most productions by all the different companies. Of course you can always join all the individual groups of every company to really be kept up to date but most of us are already in too many music groups.
I hope everyone will try to make some theatre productions and see the admirable efforts for these amazing productions!!!
Up next: Second Life Ballet
