Through the Cracks

Through the Cracks is a phone and tablet-based Augmented Reality (AR) theatre experience developed in collaboration with the English Touring Theatre (ETT). ETT has been touring ambitious theatre around the UK and the world since the 1940s. They physically take theatre to communities that otherwise would not have access. We approached ETT with the initial idea for Through the Cracks, presenting it as the digital evolution of this rich history. The project aims to improve access to new theatre, writing and performance through ubiquitous mobile technologies (phones and tablets).

AR traditionally involves adding to objects, people and spaces. However, these embellishments exist within the established, often discriminatory, social structures of our physical world. Departing from AR traditions, Through the Cracks employs AR to create new, extended spaces for storytelling and expression. This unconventional interpretation of AR is not a virtual space, fully detached from the physical world, it is a liminal space between worlds that can be used to communicate undervalued and overlooked stories. The title ‘Through the Cracks’ refers to both the method of experiencing the piece, looking down through cracks in your floor, and the metaphor of exploring stories that have been ignored or missed by society.

Using the app, audiences point their phone or tablet at the ground, and through augmented reality, experience a virtual hole appear in their own floor, through which they witness a virtual room open up beneath them. This is where characters appear and stories unfold. This method of presenting stories through Augmented Reality has the quality of an intimate performance that can be experienced anywhere. It is a uniquely personal way to experience theatre.

The methods developed for the project involved digitising actors, dialogue, scenery and light to lock these elements away in an accessible and repeatable format. The audience experiencing the AR through their own device, in their own space, brings these frozen digital elements back to life in their environment through physical movement.

During the early development stages, we held a number of writers' rooms to experiment with how to write for an entirely new form. For the first prototype, we then worked with the amazing playwright Dipo Baruwa-Etti, and developed a powerful story following two West African migrants on a journey to England.

For this premiere piece, we worked with award-winning writer Sonali Bhattacharyya to develop 'In Time', a queer, time travelling love story, narrated by Sir Ian McKellen. The piece comprises two four minute scenes that can be experienced together or with a break.

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