Chautauqua Interactive

Chautauqua Interactive is a client-pitched project focused on exploring new ways to integrate technology into the theatrical performing arts in order to create a more interactive experience for the audience. Present-day theatre has developed into a rather passive art form in which the audience sits quietly and observes the action on stage. A fourth wall has been established through which audience members view the world of the play but can rarely interact with it. Through the utilization of modern technology, our team strives to break the fourth wall separating audience and fiction, and create a theatrical performance piece that is truly interactive for everyone involved.

For this project, the Entertainment Technology Center of Carnegie Mellon University is collaborating with the Chautauqua International Festival of Arts, which will present its Festival of Arts and Innovation on the grounds of the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, NY. The goal is to deliver an interactive performance piece that will showcase the potential of the medium, as well as a symposium that heralds the innovative possibilities of technology-based, interactive performance art for the Festival.