59 Productions Present Brand New Virtual Reality (VR) Experience MY NAME IS PETER STILLMAN

My Name is Peter Stillman is a brand new Virtual Reality (VR) experience created by 59 Productions and funded by The Space, inspired by Paul Auster's celebrated first novel, The New York Trilogy. It will open at HOME, Manchester and the Lyric Hammersmith, London this spring, alongside the stage production of City of Glass.

Immerse yourself in the fractured and mysterious world of Daniel Quinn, the reclusive crime writer who unwittingly becomes the protagonist in a real-life thriller of his own. A telephone rings three times in the dead of the night. A man called Peter Stillman is looking to hire private detective, Paul Auster of the Auster Detective Agency, someone Daniel Quinn is not. This thrilling new VR experience, My Name is Peter Stillman, combines hand-drawn animation and cutting edge VR technology to distort the line between reality and fiction as the strange and haunting story of Daniel Quinn unfolds.

Developed alongside the stage production of City of Glass playing at HOME, Manchester (4 - 18 March) and the Lyric Hammersmith, London (20 April - 13 May), My Name is Peter Stillman is experienced with an Oculus Rift VR headset, in a specially-installed VR booth, allowing audiences to enter the world of Daniel Quinn.

My Name is Peter Stillman is directed by Lysander Ashton with performance direction by Leo Warner, design concept by Leo Warner and Jenny Melville, animation by Joseph Pierce (The Pub) and Edward Stockton, and sound design by Gareth Fry (Complicite's The Encounter).

Lysander Ashton, Creative Director at 59 Productions and director of My Name is Peter Stillman: "In many respects creating virtual reality experiences has more in common with theatre-making than with film production, so we are using our experience of integrating technology into theatre to explore the creative possibilities of VR. My Name is Peter Stillman follows on from the success of fabulous wonder.land a VR music video 59 Productions designed for the National Theatre which has gone on to be selected by leading festivals including Cannes and Sundance".

Fiona Morris, CEO and Creative Director of The Space, commented: "We're delighted that this VR experience, which invites audiences to immerse themselves in Austen's noir world, is coming to HOME in Manchester and the Lyric, Hammersmith, allowing people to start their theatrical journey even before they take their seats for the live performance of City of Glass."

My Name is Peter Stillman
a brand new five minute VR experience from 59 Productions experienced with an Oculus Rift VR headset
- opens at HOME on Friday 17 February until Saturday 18 March from 12:00 - 22:00 (Mon - Sat) and 12:00 - 18:00 (Sun) located in the main theatre foyer.
- opens at Lyric Hammersmith on Thursday 20 April until Saturday 13 May from 18:00- 22:00 located in the upstairs theatre bar.
Free entry, no advanced booking required.
Adult themes 14 years + advised.
Thanks to generous support from The Space.

My Name is Peter Stillman is presented alongside City of Glass the first stage adaptation of a Paul Auster novel in the UK at HOME, Manchester (4 - 18 March) and Lyric Hammersmith, London (20 April - 13 May).

In 2017, as Auster turns 70 and The New York Trilogy, his first work of prose fiction marks three decades in publication, the first part of this celebrated trilogy will be brought vividly to life in a dazzlingly original stage adaptation by 59 Productions (An American in Paris, War Horse, David Bowie Is) and Olivier Award-nominated playwright Duncan Macmillan (Every Brilliant Thing, 1984, People, Places and Things). Vivienne Acheampong, Mark Edel-Hunt, Chris New and Jack Tarlton will star in this brand new stage production directed by Tony Award-winning 59 Productions in a co-production with HOME, Manchester and Lyric Hammersmith.

CITY OF GLASS is directed by Leo Warner and adapted by Duncan Macmillan from the first novel of The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster, and the graphic novel by Paul Karasik and David Mazzucchelli. It features set design by Jenny Melville, video by Lysander Ashton, light by Matt Daw, movement by Kim Brandstrup, sound by Gareth Fry and original music by Nick Powell. It is a 59 Productions, HOME & Lyric Hammersmith production, in association with Karl Sydow, commissioned by 59 Productions.

cityofglass.org

59 Productions is the multi award-winning company of artists behind the video design of the Opening Ceremony of the 2012 London Olympic Games, the Tony Award-winning An American in Paris, globe-trotting smash hit, War Horse, and the design of record-breaking David Bowie is exhibition. 59 Productions combine technology and art to tell amazing stories. Led by Directors Leo Warner, Mark Grimmer, Lysander Ashton and Richard Slaney, they are world leaders specialising in design for stage and live events. Since 2006, 59 Productions has been involved in more than 150 productions across the world at venues including the National Theatre, Royal Court, Young Vic, the Royal Opera House, English National Opera, New York's Metropolitan Opera as well as at theatre festivals in Edinburgh, where they are Associate Artists to the International Festival until 2018, Salzburg, Berlin and Avignon.

Paul Auster's City of Glass, written in 1981/2 and first published in the United States in 1985, appeared in the UK as the initial volume in The New York Trilogy (1987). One of the great masterpieces of contemporary American fiction, it has been translated into more than 40 languages and has never been out of print in the past three decades. The novel sets out in the guise of a mystery thriller in the noir detective genre, before ultimately revealing itself to be concerned primarily with the life-or-death psychological struggle of its main protagonist, Quinn. It sets up many of the long-running themes of Auster's literary career: language, identity, coincidence and choice. The idea for the story has its origins in real-life: Auster once received two unexplained phone calls from someone asking for the Pinkerton Detective Agency, and to this day, says that he regrets not having tried to help the stranger on the phone. Through Quinn and City of Glass he allows himself to imagine an alternative world in which the phone rang for a third time, and the course of his life was altered.

The Space is a commissioning and development organisation, founded by the BBC and Arts Council England, which supports artists and arts organisations to create new artistic experiences and reach new audiences using digital technologies and platforms. The Space have supported and funded the development of My Name is Peter Stillman.

To post a comment, you must register and login.