Kaivalya Plays brings a multimedia experience to the theater world

I am Joseph is a 45-minute immersive and thought-provoking multimedia experience Photo Credit: Courtesy: Kaivalya Plays

Sitting in a dark room, the three-dimensional soundscape makes you enter the world of Josef K. Armed with high-quality wireless headphones, you will experience sounds as if they were all around you – walking from behind, whispers from the side and noise in the courtroom.

Welcome I am JosephA deeply immersive and thought-provoking 45-minute multimedia experience that invites the audience to slip into the shoes of Franz Kafka’s most famous character, who will be suddenly arrested and tried for an unspecified crime. This is an adaptation of Kafka’s Der Prozess (Trial) is reimagined through a unique first-person perspective that immerses the listener into the world of K through binaural audio. Presented by Kaivalya Plays in collaboration with Goethe Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan, New Delhi, to celebrate #100YearsKafka, it was staged recently in a slot with only 30 audience members at a time.

Relevant scripts

Kaivalya Plays general manager Gaurav Singh Nijjer has directed and designed the play | Photo Credit: Courtesy: Kaivalya Plays

Although written more than a century ago, Trial remains very relevant in today’s world, especially in India. According to the general manager of Kaivalya Plays, Gaurav Singh Nijjer, who directed and designed the play, the themes of bureaucratic complexity, the struggle for justice and individual freedom in the face of authority are more important than ever. I am Joseph it aims to transform these themes in a profound way, encouraging the audience to reflect on their own experiences of social structure and personal freedom. “Narratives of individuals who are suddenly arrested without explanation and trapped in a legal system that is unclear and out of touch with contemporary experience. In addition, the novel’s exploration of isolation and loneliness reflects our modern situation, where digital connectivity often paradoxically leads to disconnection human,” Nijjer said.

Armed with wireless headphones, you can experience all the nuances of playing. | Photo Credit: Courtesy: Kaivalya Plays

I am Joseph is a natural evolution of Kaivalya Plays’ long-standing interest in audio-based theater experiences, including radio play adaptations and immersive audio experiences, such as Lifeline 99 99. “We wanted to turn the third-person narrative into a direct, first-person encounter that challenged the audience to experience Josef K’s world from the inside. During the performance, the audience was challenged to engage with Kafka’s themes on a personal level, feeling Josef’s confusion, despair and search for meaning as if it were his own experience itself,” says Kaivalya Plays artistic director Varoon P. Anand, who scripted and adapted. play.

Sound engineering

Adaptation Trial for binaural audio there is a multi-step process. The team first rewrote the narrative to focus on auditory elements, ensuring that the characters identify themselves and that their actions are described through recognizable voices. They then created a 3D soundscape using binaural recording techniques, which capture sounds as they would be heard by the human ear. “This allows for a fully immersive audio experience where sound can be perceived from different directions and distances,” Anand explained. Next, the team carefully selected and practiced with the actors to find the right voice for each character, recording in English and German. He got the most advanced wireless headphones and other materials for the installation. Finally, they incorporate subtle projection mapping to enhance the overall immersive experience without detracting from the audio narration.

Kaivalya Plays art director Varoon P. Anand has scripted and adapted the play | Photo Credit: Courtesy: Kaivalya Plays

Last month, Kaivalya Plays hosted Martin McDonagh’s The Pillowman in the capital. An edge-of-your-seat dark comedy set in an unnamed totalitarian state, it tells the chilling story of an author whose macabre tales of child murder blur the line between fiction and reality. The visually stimulating performance, performed under license from Concord Theatricals, combines various storytelling ideas, including projection mapping, live transmission and audio-video interaction with actors in real time.

of pillow maker by Kaivalya Plays | Photo Credit: Special Arrangements

Kaivalya Plays plans to continue exploring innovative theater formats. Next month, he will present two years of research into safety in the performing arts and artificial intelligence at the Indian Foundation for the Arts Research Conference in Bengaluru. In November, he will help a group of young artists to debut as a director on the Delhi stage with a new self-written production.The Golden Commode. He will also stageMining Hatean improvisational interactive drama about disinformation attacks on Indian journalists using AI tools in real time. Next, a new improv team will take the stageConspiracy Theorya long improvisational comedy show about conspiracy theories. In addition, they will host workshops by artists from Australia and Germany this month, bringing more opportunities for Indian artists to learn from global players, especially in the field of technology for theatre. “We envision creating performances that can travel beyond traditional art spaces, into classrooms, offices, courtrooms and even the Internet,” concluded Nijjer.