Research: Live Performance
Homer in Cyberspace
Homer in Cyberspace was an original musical first performed at UCLA in 2008. The show, a modern update to the ancient tale of Odysseus, Telemachus, and Penelope, was written by Mel Shapiro and Daniel Keleher, with original music by Roger Bourland, and media by REMAP.
The piece explored the story of Homer's Odyssey amidst a modern tension between technology and the emotional soul. The media design builds on techniques in past work, incorporating realtime 2D and 3D graphics, video, and still photography composited in the Ogre 3D graphics engine along with physical set, costumes, lights, and sound.
UCLA Department of Theater, 2008.
Developing and Staging Gone with the Wind Remixed
This two-quarter series will develop and stage original multimedia performance pieces inspired by the critical examination of Gone with the Wind that started in the Fall Quarter’s FTV 298A. Students will form interdisciplinary teams and collaborate to research, develop, write, cast, rehearse and stage their pieces under the supervision of the instructors and other participating faculty.
UCLA Department of Theater, 2012.
An Adaptation of Macbeth
The original multimedia theatrical work, An Adaptation of Macbeth, has evolved out of an ongoing international collaboration. The project continues the strong relationship between UCLA and the Bulgarian host company, the Rhodopi Dramatichen Theater, now combined with Plovdiv’s theater under the continued artistic direction of Krystu Krastev.
Plovdiv Dramatichen Theatre, 2013. (Invited.)
Three Modern Noh Plays
Using the Ogre-based 3D engine created for Homer in Cyberspace, REMAP created the projection design for a very different theatrical experience: Three plays by Yukio Mishima—Yuya, Dojoji, and Yorobashi— directed and translated to English for the first time by Conor Hanratty.
UCLA Department of Theater, 2009.
Virgin and the Unicorn
This workshop theater production based on Leonardo Da Vinci’s version of the classic myth was created by Alexandar Iliev (Bulgarian National Academy of Theatre and Film Arts), Jed Harris (Carnegie Mellon School of Drama), Sergio Costola (Southwestern University) and Jeff Burke (UCLA REMAP) for the Rhodopi International Theater Laboratory in 2008. Collaborating artists for REMAP included Cat Deakins (cinematography/visuals), Jonathan Snipes (sound design/composition), Francesco Capodieci (software).
Rhodopi International Theater Laboratory, 2008.
Blogger Project
A theater production written and directed by Tony-award winning professor, Mel Shapiro, interweaves elements from Homer’s Iliad, the Iraq War and internet-based communication within a simulated gaming world on stage. REMAP's team of students and alumni from computer science, theater, animation, cinematography and architecture explored how to harness the power of a modern game engine (Unreal 2) into a unique flow of media in a live event.
UCLA Department of Theater, 2006.
Primer/Lem
Primer/Lem is an original, collaborative puppet, object, and multimedia performance piece created by Tom Lee, Matt Acheson, Jared Stein, Jeff Burke, and Jonathan Snipes. The team received funding from The Trust for Mutual Understanding to start development of the work in collaboration with puppeteers from Theatredreams Sofia and the State Puppet Theatre of Varna in the summer of 2009 at the Rhodopi International Theatre Laboratory in Smolyan, Bulgaria.
Rhodopi International Theater Laboratory, 2009.
Macbett
Macbett was a mainstage performance of Ionesco's satrical take on Shakespeare, directed by Adam Shive. With interactive systems conceived and developed by REMAP's Jeff Burke, the lighting and sound of the play is manipulated by the motion and position of its performers. The systems enabled the supernatural characters to control the stage lighting and sound with their body movements.
UCLA Department of Theater, 2001.
Iliad Project
This performance research project developed techniques to incorporate its audience's demographic data into its story details, creating dynamic and dramatic text. The original piece by Jared Stein, Jeff Burke, and Adam Shive involved a retelling of Homer’s ‘Iliad’ transforms traditional theater with complex digital technology design and audience participation.
UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, 2002-2004.
Fahrenheit 451
Fahrenheit 451 was a theater production of Ray Bradbury’s science fiction classic, at UCLA. Directors: Marc Fellner & Kathy Castoro. Produced by DJ Gugenheim. The Hypermedia Studio designed video systems and directed a team of student programmers for the UCLA student workshop production. Live and prerecorded video on three rear-projection screens could be selected and played from single computer at full resolution and speed. In effect, three screens of full-resolution video could be “edited” on the fly to match by an operator to match the actors’ performances.
UCLA Department of Theater, 2000.
