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In the physical world, the classical stage is a platform of vibrant movement and interpersonal connection, broadcast onto a static audience who is only allowed to applaud at prescribed intervals. Our project proposal set out to challenge this performer-audience hierarchy within the virtual realm and investigate how the dissolution of the stage/seating barrier, as well as the elimination of the physical body, creates an autonomous audience experience that transcends the mere “spectator.”

We envisioned a space in which audience members are able to move freely around the stage, interact with each other through a chat function, and react to the music as it occurs without fear of “interrupting” the performance, all giving them authority over their own listening experience. As we began to conceptualize this free performance space, we realized that the virtual realm renders the very idea of a singular stage obsolete, and our project goals broadened from challenging the concert hall hierarchy to challenging the very notion of the stage itself. We thus imagined a new space composed of multiple digital stages, with each stage offering a unique presentation of the same musical performance. Our final product showcases six stages (“nodes”) that meld music and architecture through spatialization and distortion of sound.

As our team began drafting up the animations and editing audio remotely from our homes, we kept returning to the idea of how in isolation, the domestic space has transformed into a performance space. We asked, in the age of quarantine, has the home become a theatre? To explore this in our work, we incorporated familiar objects -- such as a bed or mirror -- within our nodes to challenge the notion of a stage and act as anchors within an unfamiliar virtual space.

Our project depicts just one of many paths an audience member might take on their unique journey through the nodes. The musical performance featured is “She-e-e-e-e” by SMTD student violinist Megan Rohrer, which she performs with her group Converge Quartet.

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