"Passengers of the Ship Named Daughter of Mountains", a mixed reality opera

It is a interactive theater experience situated inside a magic vehicle driven by a pilot in real-time. She navigates it through a series of virtual worlds that challenge the audience. Performers and the audience are all characters in this interactive opera.

The core subject that we explore in this work is a shift from a biological human being to a new human of the technological era, its psyche, ethics, creativity, and love. Where is this new human: is it potentially sitting passively inside each of us, or is it something we’re capable of cultivating actively?

There are two realities merged into one: physical reality is inside the ship where the audience is present, and outer virtual worlds - the audience observes them through the vehicle’s windows. Live performers and virtual characters can seamlessly transcend between the two realities as if there is no border between them.

The real-time storytelling algorithm dynamically navigates non-linear dramaturgy based on the interaction between the audience and performers. The audience is the core character in this theater, which excels conventional, relatively passive consumption of traditional theater by placing the audience at the heart of the decision-making process that affects music, visual elements, and virtual world dynamics.

It is an immersion in a safe space where the audience is allowed to radically experiment with profoundly new ideas or fight deepest fears, which is hardly possible to dare to try in ordinary life. It is ultimately a transformational experience for both the technological outer reality and the inner individual human world.

It’s a collaborative project produced in New York and New Jersey with an international team of contributors.

Directed by Nikita Shokhov
Written by Oorja Garg
Libretto by Kate Eberstadt & Oorja Garg
Performed by Kate Eberstadt
Composed by Sepehr Pirasteh
Choreography by Ali Bianchi
Scenic Design by Masha Kechaeva & Masha Khyshova
Produced by IPURELAND

Host or Publisher Nikita Shokhov