The Royal Shakespeare Company, in collaboration with Manchester International Festival, Marshmallow Laser Feast and Philharmonia Orchestra present Dream, a live, online performance set in a virtual midsummer forest.

Take a glimpse into the future.

Theatre, music and groundbreaking technology combine in an extraordinary exploration into the future of live performance. Follow a sprite on a moonlit journey through the night until dawn.

Dream is the culmination of a major piece of research and development. Using motion capture technology, seven actors, in mocap suits, take a live online audience into the magical world of a virtual midsummer forest created from Unreal Engine which is then rendered to a live-stream that the online audience can watch and interact with. The performers will be surrounded by projection screens in the studio, allowing them to see the virtual world and audience interactions in real-time as they perform.

Playing behind the action is a symphonic score based on recordings by the Philharmonia Orchestra. In addition to this is music created in real time by the movements of the performers, this living, dynamic soundtrack adapts and interacts with the narrative and the pre-recorded orchestral tracks.

There are two ways to experience Dream. With an Audience Plus ticket, audience members can choose to take on the role of fireflies, lighting the forest for Puck and immersing in the world of the performance with movements of the mouse, trackpad or touchscreen. Alternatively, Audience is a free ticket and they can simply sit back and watch the live stream.

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