Development of visuals, animation, video and projection mapping for this ground breaking touring play being produced jointly by Teatr Piba (the Breton language theatre company) and Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru (the Welsh language national theatre of Wales). The production presented a complex challenge as regards accessibility for different audiences in terms of language knowledge (Welsh and Breton have some commonalities as Celtic Brittonic group languages but have many differences and the play should also be accessible by non-Welsh non-Breton speakers as well) so one aspect of the development examined the inclusion of key words, phrases and symbology in the full-set projection mapping to aid language accessibility.

Through a series of research and development workshops Studio Biscoe also helped Teatr Piba investigate a range of technologies for consideration in the production, such as motion tracking, live video capture and projection mapping.

24UK is being developed as a new piece of networked theatre for rural touring, one where one part of the play resides in a news studio and the other part of the play is live in the theatre with streamed audio/video links to/from the news room in this topical production from Cornwall’s Near-ta Theatre. It’s a comedy with a twist but would be giving too much away to say much more!

StudioBiscoe developed the technical setup in collaboration with Near-ta, employing the same green screen technology used in television news rooms combined with low latency interactive streaming to connect seamlessly with theatres around the country where the play will run.  StudioBiscoe also developed animations and graphics for this pilot run.

When the Falmouth Theatre Company decided to develop their version of the West End production Bad Girls: The Musical (based on the TV series of the same name) they were presented with a challenge of how to produce a dramatic prison stage set on a limited budget.  Studio Biscoe developed a full-set digital scenography which mapped on to a simple physical set comprising 3m high panels (with doors and windows) stage rear, left and right.  Three grid-hung short throw projectors ensured that all of the physical set could then be projected on as required.  For different acts the set became the prison canteen, an individual cell, a fantasy world outside of the prison, a dream world and the setting for escape by helicopter through the use of different animations, images and videos that were all created by Studio Biscoe.

In one scene a prisoner manages to handcuff a prison office to a bed and then sets light to him; the scene had to be played to the audience directly but also through a simulation of the prison’s CCTV monitoring room.  A high resolution remote control video camera was positioned over the prison bed and live video was then processed and projected onto three simulated CCTV screens at the back of the stage.  When the prisoner threw her cigarette to engulf the bed in flames the CCTV monitors switched to show a pre-recorded clip of a burning mannequin that had been prerecorded on a green screen set.

Canvas Theatre wanted to explore applications of new technology in the design and implementation of their latest production The Star Child.  A festive adaptation of the Oscar Wilde short story of the same name, set within the Golden Age of Hollywood that captures the exciting spectacle of the 1930s talkies, and the glamour surrounding the new stars of film.

For the project Studio Biscoe produced all animations – including a Busby Berkeley-esque scene of many dancers, a book that morphed into stars and an opening sequence which played homage to a famous film company’s logo sequence  – and designed the projection mapped digital scenography working with set designer Myriddin Wannel.

The Star Child premièred in the 2015 Christmas season at the The Poly in Falmouth.