Il Giocoliere: The Juggler

The Juggler is a performance that aims to investigate the relationship between the theatre and the ICT. The aim is to realize a real and at the same time imaginary place where actors can interact with imaginary characters, objects or situation. The plot of the performance is simple: the Juggler will meet two characters: Trick and the Shaman. These two characters will guide the Juggler inside a fantastic world where he will able to connect the terrestrial world and the afterlife searching for the memory, values, essence. Therefore, the Juggler will express the need to act with the imagination to tell a world of memories relived through signs, symbols and atmospheres suspended for walking away from a reality too much unnecessary concrete. The core of this experience is the relationship between video and body actors. They talk, returning one dimension to another. The video, in this experience, it is not intended as a form of sealed and assembled in support of a language (both theatrical and performative), but is conceived and developed as a flexible material at the disposal of actors / performers / dancers in a state of inter-connection . The actions of one determine the reaction of the other. In order to achieve this goal, a multimedia product was developed in Flash. This media allows the actors on stage to interact in unreal situations or create new and non-repeatable. In this way the director can be an active part of the show, changing the course of history in real time. The use of Flash, in fact, allows the director to choose which part of the storyboard to use and the situation going to build. In the same way the public can interact with the actors and scenes. It 'important to note that the media has the duty to act as a backdrop to the show and the costumes have been designed taking into account the need to interact with a virtual performance space. As previously mentioned the core of the show is the multimedia content developed in Flash. The artistic purpose, that we wanted to achieve with this product, was to build a show in which traditional methods and approaches of the theatre have merged with those of ICT. In this way an innovative way of understanding the visual representation has been built. So technology is not a simple tool to support the artistic performance but it is a protagonist of the action and able to modify and interpret the course of history. The multimedia content has been built making use of original texts and music. The show has been featured in various Italian opera houses, creating a performance much appreciated by audiences and critics. A version for the web of the product has been created and can be find at the following link: http://www.maxcoppeta.it/giocoliere/