Immersive Opera for an Audience of One

Virtual Reality has created a new performance space and a compelling new way to tell stories. Relative Motion is a VR storytelling studio that works with artists to create amazing narrative virtual reality content and to share it with their audiences in unique, inspiring and intrinsically theatrical ways.

The team have been working on Giacomo Puccini's celebrated opera: Tosca - a violent political thriller set in tumultuous Napoleonic era Rome. The plot centres around three main characters: Floria Tosca, her lover Mario Cavaradossi (a painter and republican), and the corrupt Chief of Police, Baron Scarpia.

"Fusing opera and VR has been something we’ve had in the mix since starting the company. With that said, I think the most important reason for combining the two mediums is that the narrative structure of opera (like Shakespeare and his contemporaries) is crafted in a way that casts the audience in several different roles."

"Some operas can shift between these roles seamlessly throughout the story. One moment you’re a voyeur, in another moment you’re the conscience of one of the characters - and in another, you may be a character yourself. In Tosca VR we cast you as both a character and a voyeur simultaneously. It’s a nice balance" (Christopher Lane)

"Tosca VR is an intimate encounter with an artform that usually thrives on a grand scale. There’s no red curtain, no proscenium arch and no expensive ticket… but there is a super-engaging story and fantastic music. VR allows us to surround you with the drama and the sound-world of Puccini’s Tosca in a way you simply couldn’t experience in a theatre. I think it’s a pretty exciting and stirring place to be, whatever your tastes or background might be."
Andy Purves, Technical Director

"I suppose the most important thing to consider is that the camera, be it physical or virtual, is a person who has agency and who is present in the story with the characters." (Christopher Lane)

"You have to keep this front-and-centre for all involved, creatives and performers alike, as it underpins everything about how you craft the story experience."

"That’s why we call the camera 'SAM' (Single Audience Member): This lovely name subconsciously reminds us all that there is someone, not something, at the centre of the stories we are crafting." (Christopher Lane)

"We are keenly aware of the perceived exclusivity around opera that seems to turn away potential new audiences before their interest can be piqued." (Andy Purves)

"There are significant numbers of people who can never envisage themselves walking through the doors of an opera house. A major opportunity in transposing the artform to a virtual reality performance space is one of increasing accessibility – socially, economically and physically – it’s really important to us." (Andy Purves)

"While this is just an excerpt, we’d love to make the entire Tosca opera in VR. The piece has so many magical moments, which would translate brilliantly into VR, and we’d love to show people the rest of a work we love in this new way." (Chloe Miller Smith)