Conceived and created by Mapped Productions
Nova Insula is a cinematic deconstruction of The Tempest, interweaving performance, multimedia, and interactive installation.
When Shakespeare premiered The Tempest, the world was swirling with excitement for geographical discoveries. In this age of exploration, it was possible that Utopia was real and lying just over the horizon.
Today, technology has taken the place of geographic exploration as a means of attaining Utopia. Technology is a new artistic vocabulary, available to most everyone. But is this language right for rewriting Utopia?
By viewing the Shakespearian text though the kaleidoscope of video projections, sensory spaces, and live-media interactions, we bring our audience behind the veil and into the world of Prospero’s spirits, where the means of illusion is laid bare. Nova Insula creates otherworldly experiences; our difference is the wonder comes not from the mystery of spectacle, but the poetic lingering between the witnessing how something is created and the resulting illusion.
The audience moves through a series of immersive installations, roughly mirroring the five acts of The Tempest, and featuring key characters such as Caliban and Gonzalo. The first scene sets the tone for the show as the audience enters the backstage of a film set where The Tempest is being shot. At the end of the scene, the audience follows the director through a series of dream-like environments, where the questions of interpreting a canonical text in the 21st century are interrogated and explored.
Created for the INteatro Festival with the support and sponsorship of:
INteatro Festival
Marche Teatro
Lancaster University
Adriatica Service &C s.r.l.
Premiered:
Ancona, Mole Vanvitelliana (IT)
Photos by Vittoria Belli
Video by Vittoria Belli