Pink Skies (2017) by IOU TheatreThe Space
"Rear View" is a location-specific show experienced on board a specially designed bus. In IOU Theatre's production, the town becomes the stage, as the main character leads the audience on an unforgettable journey.
Rear View "360 Render" Sunny Day (2018) by IOU TheatreThe Space
With support from The Space, IOU filmed a performance of Rear View using 360 technology.
Bus in the dusk (2017) by IOU TheatreThe Space
“The central idea for Rear View,” explains IOU’s Artistic Director, David Wheeler, “is that the audience is taken around a town by a young woman visiting special places in her future life..."
Rear View Bus Audience (2017) by JMA PhotographyThe Space
"She takes us out of the art class and on to IOU’s specially made open-top bus where we are taken on her journey."
Out there again by the cloudy beach (2017) by JMA PhotographyThe Space
"Everything in a sense is in the future, there is ambiguity about whether we are looking back or looking forward."
Rear View in the mist (2017) by JMA PhotographyThe Space
"An important part of the concept is that it is imagined and written from the perspective of a young woman at the beginning of her adult life.”
Getting on the bus (2017) by CJ Griffiths PhotographyThe Space
...so that when the audience begins the bus journey around the town they are in a slightly altered state and more intimately connected to the woman’s character.
Yellow Lines (2017) by CJ Griffiths PhotographyThe Space
Travelling through the real world listening to the words and soundscape through headphones, cocooned in a heightened sound world, creates a very immersive feeling.
Sea Front (2017) by CJ Griffiths PhotographyThe Space
The small details of everyday life of people in the real world going about their daily business magically become integrated into the poetry of the words.
Rear View "360 Render" Art Class (2018) by IOU TheatreThe Space
"Rear View 360" is a filmed performance of Rear View using 360 technology to digitally create IOU Theatre's immersive cinematic experience.
Rear View 360 was screened at art festivals in the UK throughout 2019 as well as shared online.
Rear View "360 Render" Sunny Day (2018) by IOU TheatreThe Space
Wearing VR headsets, audiences could see the show from both the perspective of the audience and the performer.
Rear View "360 Render" Red Brick Street (2018) by IOU TheatreThe Space
As a VR installation and also online, audiences could feel the sensation of riding on the bus and share the 360 stage with our performer as she led them through the streets with her moving narrative.
At the lamppost (2017) by CJ Griffiths PhotographyThe Space
“The audience reaction to Rear View 360 was overwhelming,” adds Joanne Wain, Executive Director at IOU.
Audience Participation (2017) by CJ Griffiths PhotographyThe Space
“Audiences wearing Oculus headsets who experienced the screening as an installation, started to respond like they were at the live show. Some would call out, wave at, and applaud the performer as she took a bow at the end.”
“The narrative is extremely powerful. Coupled with the uniqueness of experiencing theatre travelling backwards on a bus, where the real world becomes a set that audiences zoom in and out, a different reality is created."
Out there by the cloudy beach (2017) by JMA PhotographyThe Space
"Add to this, that it was all in the virtual 360 space with an audience capacity of 8, they were often blown away when they removed their headsets. It really did shift their perspective of what theatre can be.”
Rear View Bus in the grey (2017) by JMA PhotographyThe Space
“With Rear View 360,” continues Joanne, “we were able to use the latest technologies to reach new audiences online and break down some of the barriers that people may have to experiencing art and culture by using the internet as a platform.”
IOU always strives to make the experience for an audience surprising and unusual, putting on work in places where people don’t normally see theatre.
In Town (2017) by CJ Griffiths PhotographyThe Space
Rear View 360 is an extension of this, by blurring the lines not just between past, present and future in the narrative but also between reality and virtual reality.
Over 10,000 people watched Rear View online since it was launched on IOU’s website, YouTube channel and social media in April 2018.
Rear View is written and performed by performance poets Cecilia Knapp and Jemima Foxtrot.
Cecilia Knapp is a poet, playwright and performer. Her commissions have included TATE, the V&A and the BBC and she has been featured in international publications including Dazed Magazine and Vogue.
Jemima Foxtrot is a writer, performer, theatre-maker and musician who has written and performed in critically acclaimed plays Melody and Above the Mealy-mouthed Sea. She has written commissions for BBC 2, BBC Arts, Channel 4 and Tate Britain and has performed her poetry at festivals and venues across the country including Glastonbury, Latitude and the Barbican. She is a founding member of the theatre company Unholy Mess and her first collection of poetry All Damn Day is published by Burning Eye Books.
IOU has over 40 years’ experience making original, cross-disciplinary art. From large-scale outdoor performances to small-scale sculptural installations, IOU explores the shifting ground between real, imagined and visual worlds, with a focus on IOU’s unique style in innovative engineering, construction and invention. Led by original founder member David Wheeler, IOU has excited and delighted diverse audiences all over Europe.
Rear View 360 was produced with support from The Space, Arts Council and First Bus.
