In collaboration with “Feed the Herd“, Doppleganger was a residency at 3 Legged Dog through the month of July 2007.  As part of the residency, I built hardware in the form of sensors and actuators for actors and the set.  This was integrated with live video and visual effects through the Isadora environment.  We were also able to sync the lighting cues with the physical computer/live video, further integrating the visual components of the show together through Isadora.

“Doppelganger is about two people who strive for material happiness, believing that superficial pursuits can bring personal satisfaction. After a life-changing event they must adapt and realize that their pleasure pursuits are only a single, small element of living, compared to the grand scope of the universe. For true fulfillment they must take a risk that contradicts popular logic and personal inhibitions to achieve a lasting understanding of happiness and the world. At its heart, Doppelganger is the simple story of a network engineer, George, and a human resources executive, Marcia, coming to terms with the death of their mutual acquaintance, Frank. Heath complicates this by creating a double world. Frank dies by falling to his death while joking with George, but simultaneously, the same Frank is having an affair in the office across the street with Marcia. Time and Space play tricks on the two protagonists, haunting, perplexing and tempting them to open up its mysteries and come to an understanding of Frank’s death and their own existence.“

To further augment the dream-scapes and alternate realities the characters in this play exist in, video has been an integral visual element which helps cement the fragmented thoughts and experiences as the narrative progresses. Additionally, as part of the residency, we’ve been exploring the uses of motion tracking and physical computing (in the form of accelerometer and force sensing electronics) to build relationships between the actors and their surround landscape on stage.

Below, some additional photographs of the live performance.