On June 3, China's first XR digital drama 'Macbeth', presented by the NCPA, CCTV and China (Beijing) Starlight Audiovisual Industry Base, had its grand premiere in the Opera House of the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA), which not only brought thousands of viewers a unique work of art, but also an impact and reflection on the in-depth fusion of digital virtual technology and theater and film art. It is also a deep fusion of digital virtual technology with theater and movie art.

XR is the abbreviation of Extended Reality, and XR theater is to apply the technology of Extended Reality to theater. Mu Feng, the director of China's first XR digital drama 'Macbeth', describes the work as "a drama without a stage, a movie with only a stage", meaning that digital technology is used to replace the traditional live-action choreography, and movie montage is used to deconstruct the performance space of the drama.

Various stage designs with strong visual impact and multiple symbolic meanings are all generated by digital technology, creating a poetic effect that combines reality with reality and grandeur. The classic story and lines, modern technology and effects give new life to Shakespeare's famous play.

The open ending is more contemporary: Macbeth walks off the stage, the historical theater scene is instantly like the movie 'The Matrix', and the filming crew on the spot brings a strong sense of "disassociation", which makes the audience feel more profoundly touched and thoughtful. Is the space we live in real? The desire that has traveled through thousands of years keeps spreading and growing, who will be the next prey of desire, you, me and others?

The XR digital drama Macbeth took two years from preparation to finalization, and went through four large-scale overthrow and reshooting, integrating and innovating from the performance form, script innovation, costumes and props, and the presentation of the digital virtual scene in many dimensions. In addition, the reusability of the virtual scene is also incomparable to the characteristics of traditional choreography.

According to Mu Feng, the director of the play, the digitization of traditional theatre is usually recorded and relayed in the form of movies, which is not helping theatre but ruining it. Because theater is for a live audience, there is a certain distance between the audience and the actors, so the actors' lines, performances, and forms may be exaggerated. However, if you directly use the camera to film the theater actors on stage, it will make the audience in front of the screen feel unreal, and even produce resistance, which will instead damage the theater. 

Therefore, XR Digital Drama will combine the respective strengths of drama and film, and let XR Drama go out of the traditional theater, into the theater, and into the new media, so that more people will accept this new art form.

There are also many audience members who expressed more reflections on the combination of theater and technology. Some people believe that the use of new technology or new concepts in literary creation should be based on a deep understanding of the original work. At present, this XR digital theater is only a shallow attempt to use technology to present the world's classic theatrical works, and has not yet brought about a real innovation and breakthrough from form to thought.

Therefore, 'Macbeth' as the first XR digital theater has just begun, and all aspects are still in the process of exploration and experimentation, hoping that in the future, it will be able to bring a more far-reaching driving force for the new quality of productivity empowered by theatrical innovation, break the bottleneck of traditional theater creation, and promote the rise of a new form of industry.

Translator: BAI Jing

Reviewer: LI An