Innovation and virtual reality in live performance are a field of exploration for many. As far as the Lyon-based collective INVIVO is concerned, this has been a constant approach for almost ten years. Their latest show LES AVEUGLES, currently on tour (and discovered for us at the GIFF in Geneva last year), is concrete proof of this. Meeting with the director Julien Dubuc.
- INVIVO was founded in 2011 around 6 members: Alexia Chandon-Piazza, Julien Dubuc, Chloé Dumas, Grégoire Durrande Pierre-Yves Poudou and Samuel Sérandour (author, lighting designer, sound designer, scenographer, video maker…). More info
- The collective signed 3 creations written collectively: PARFOIS JE RÊVE QUE JE VOIS (2014), an immersive show for 10 spectators with headphones, BLACKOUT (2015), a journey for 1 spectator with headphones and smartphone, and 24/7 (2018), for 40 spectators and partly with virtual reality headphones.
- In 2019, under the impetus of Sumaya Al-Attia, Elsa Belenguier and Chloé Dumas, They create for the first time a show for young audiences, CETO (from 18 months).
- Since 2020, Julien Dubuc has directed within the collective TESSERACT (0.00/0.00) and then LES AVEUGLES, a play in VR for 12 spectators based on the famous text by Maurice Maeterlinck, notably presented at the GIFF in Geneva at the end of 2022.
- Next, LA FIN DU PRÉSENT or the adaptation of 3 texts by Maurice Maeterlinck in the form of a hybrid and protean show.
Cover: Nicolas Richard for INVIVO
INVIVO, a Collective from Lyon
Julien Dubuc – INVIVO is a collective born at the end of our studies at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts et Techniques du Théâtre de Lyon – or ENSATT. It is a school that trains all the professions of the performing arts, from scenography to sound, lighting, administration, directing, acting… We were 6 ex-students with a real motivation to break free from the 4th wall, to ask questions at the crossroads of the arts, to hybridize creations. The desire was to create new works, with immersion and new technologies. We had different skills that called upon technologies, and we wanted to use them as much as to question them. It is our theatrical grammar, our signature.
LES AVEUGLES, A Theatrical Proposal in VR
J. D. – LES AVEUGLES is our second play using virtual reality, and the first to do so in full. Before that, we had staged 3 very different shows, including 24/7 (in 2018) with half the audience equipped with VR headsets. At the time, we had developed a specific application that allowed us to switch from the real show (via Samsung Gear cameras) to virtual sequences (360 videos),. It was another challenge to “mix” the realities, with recorded sequences.
J. D. – All this learning in a short time (less than 4 years…) also taught us a lot – with very important ambitions on the technical or logistical side, but which we managed to exceed. On LES AVEUGLES we worked with Antoine Vanel (digital artist known as Blindsp0t), who has an incredible technical and artistic touch. On 24/7 we didn’t have that help, and the approach was much more handmade… By the way Antoine took over the 2018 application for the piece which is still running! The evolution of software is a real challenge for us, because this technological management is to be taken into account on shows that tour several years in France or in Europe.
J. D. – Virtual reality was a dizzying discovery for us. We arrived in immersive creation at a time when VR was just starting. The field of possibilities was enormous, and still is; there is a lot to discover in terms of live performance. We can also evoke the economy of means that this can incite to make, the sound and the image to work… The spatialization was an enormous pleasure for us, especially in the sound with Grégoire Durrande. We can work differently our approach of the sensations, of the surrounding world – even if minimalist. With us, we work on a form of visual purity, with photogrammetry, images that collapse or reconstruct themselves with a certain strangeness. And of course, Maurice de Maeterlinck’s text fits perfectly into these intentions. But this is not an end in itself in our creations: our next piece will not have VR for example.
To inscribe the spectator in the immersion
J. D. – LES AVEUGLES by Maurice de Maeterlinck is a fundamental text for me, which inspired me a lot in my original desire to make theater. It was also the basis of my thesis on the place of darkness in digital creation. A real shock that welded our collective in our first research. 24/7 had made me want to work around virtual reality as a creative medium, and everything was there for this next step which embraces it completely. But I didn’t want VR to be just an artifice, and everything was done so that the staging would integrate it into the heart of the device.
J. D. – We wanted to bring a total work, a group experience (12 people), and not make a VR content. That’s why we created this cocoon, from the moment the spectator enters. Everything must converge so that immersion meets emotion, both individually and collectively. The device itself had to seduce as soon as it was discovered, with this installation for 12 spectators where the helmets appear very clearly, but with a play of light and an obvious staging. The pre-show is primordial in our setting up, and the dialogue with the spectator opens as soon as he arrives in the room.
J. D. – One could say that this desire to face technical and narrative challenges could almost remind one of the fairground world. We walk around with this technical “pack” which, in reality, does not differ much from a truck of sets or costumes for a traditional play. The set up perfectly responds to the idea of collective experience. With a material preview that is undoubtedly impressive for some: a spectator in Limoges (at the Théâtre de l’Union) told us she had the impression of navigating between Matrix and Beckett. We took the compliment! We propose classical theater with a science fiction intention, visible technique but a real poetry – even strangeness – in the background.
J. D. – INVIVO has always advocated passive immersion, so that the viewer’s imagination unfolds within the framework we set. No direct interactions, or very gentle ones. That’s why I wanted the spectators to be like the 12 blind men in the story, who can neither see nor touch each other. The metaphor of our place in a group, of making decisions in the face of the unknown… We have voluntarily placed the spectator in a sitting position, with little range of movement. Then, everyone can watch the experience as he wishes.
J. D. – Our place in this sector of creation is clearly hybrid: not totally immersive by the technology, not totally theatrical in its form. Our second creation was an ambulatory piece, in total freedom. It’s a real challenge every time! And the next one will also be with 200 spectators with headphones guided throughout the theater.
Programming immersive live performance
J. D. – La force des AVEUGLES vis-à-vis du réseau de lieux artistiques, c’est d’être un texte classique. Dès lors, l’innovation est plus facile à inclure dans leur programmation – même si nous restons tributaires des jauges, avec 12 personnes par heure (60 par jour). On discute avec des salles assez importantes, certains festivals peuvent se le permettre. Mais il faut trouver de nouveaux modèles pour ces dispositifs. On travaille pour être totalement autonome, sans besoin matériel préexistant. On réfléchit énormément à la tournée dans ce sens.
J. D. – We are still very much linked to the development of the VR industry. For example, we are not safe from a change of decision of the headset manufacturers, from the stop of some models… And all this has a very direct impact on our productions. With LES AVEUGLES, we have 1 replacement helmet but it can become complicated. We think about our low tech approach within these devices, not to be trapped. The charm of the vintage can sometimes incite us to use old Samsung headsets, which still work well…
J. D. – The interest with LES AVEUGLES was to remind us of our place, between nature and technology. There is a connection to our current situation, in our inability to see the collapse of a world. With LES AVEUGLES, it’s a bit like visiting the ruins of our own existence.
J. D. – The problem of language and localization in broadcasting is important for us, because in our version, the dialogues have a high flow. The insertion of subtitles is a first solution but not ideal for the show. An international broadcast would require a full dubbing, so that the question of rhythm and immersion is respected.
LES AVEUGLES – On Tour
- 11 > 25.03.2023
MARTO – Les Gémeaux + Théâtre de Châtillon-Clamart - 01 > 18.12.2022
LIEU UNIQUE + STEREOLUX – Nantes - 05 > 13.11.2022
GIFF – Genève (CH) - 11 > 14.10.2022
Théâtre de l’UNION – CDN de Limoges - 12 + 13.03.2022
LUX – SN de Valence - 17 > 19.12.2021
BIENNALE NÉMO – CENTQUATRE – Paris - 11 + 12.12.2021
BIENNALE NÉMO – Maison de la musique Nanterre - 16 > 28.11.2021
MICROMONDES – TNG – CDN de Lyon (CRÉATION)
Production : INVIVO
Coproduction : Les Gémeaux – Scène nationale de Sceaux, Théâtre Nouvelle Génération – CDN de Lyon, Théâtre de l’Union – CDN du Limousin, Némo – Biennale des Arts Numériques de la Région Île-de-France – Le CENTQUATRE-PARIS, Lux – Scène nationale de Valence
Soutiens : Centre National du Cinéma et de l’image animée, DRAC Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Région Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Ville de Lyon, Théâtre des Îlets – CDN de Montluçon, La maison du numérique
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