Beach Shack Theater – a real theater performance

Second Life artistic field has evolved so much in recent years and offers such a complex and amazing virtual experience, that sometimes you feel like nothing could surprise you anymore. Still! When me and Cris saw for the first time one of their performance, “Polar Opposites”, we were trully impressed and completly fascinated: it was magic the way Kareen and Ayrne staged this comedy about this very cute zoo-bound penguin and his friends who escape the moment they grow, tired of the heat in the human city. 

Kareen Magic and Ayrne Greymoon founded Beach Shack Theater in March 2016. They wanted something original, different from the staged shows we were already used to in Second Life. A real theater performance. And they succeeded in creating pure magic! Behind each performance is a meticulous process from the main idea to the point where they bring their characters to life. Here is their story:

“This turned out to be extremely challenging, but also very rewarding. Many viewers have commented that they haven’t seen anything like what we do anywhere else in SL. Our first play, “Chatter”, was a comedy about the interplay between SL and RL. We performed it at a friend’s club where we could set up our stage and bleachers. After the show’s success we partnered with some friends to buy group land at Silvercreek, where we established our theater. Now, in our ninth year, we have produced ten shows with a variety of styles and themes and have added collaborators who perform in our shows, build sets, and make translations for our subtitle HUD. We all share the challenge of making these stories come to life on the stage and the joy of experiencing it.

Each play starts with some brainstorming between Kareen and I. We kick around ideas about the type of show we want to make and thoughts about themes and locations, etc. Then, I write a story outline and we begin to build the show.

Each scene is meticulously built second by second. First, I write a detailed script (which we call a storyline as to not confuse it with SL animation scripts, which we also use quite a lot of) with dialog, movement, sound effects, music, lighting and special effects directions for the scene including the time of each event. I also prepare a working version of the soundtrack. We create the backgrounds and build the stage set then start to make the scene in SL. We use the MetaHarper Show Tools which control rezzing of stages and props, movement of performers, effects, lighting and camera. Kareen finds an appropriate animation for the performer, or creates one, and then adds the timing and the command syntax to trigger the animation to a notecard that is used to program the show tools.

Every action of the show, from the front curtain opening at the beginning to the house lights coming back up after the finale, has its own specific time entry on the program notecard. As we build the show, the notecard for the show tools, the script (storyline), and the sound track will be revised multiple times to synchronize the visuals with the audio. During the time we are building the show, the performers will be creating their outfits. Sometimes the script has some guidance for the character’s look, but there is always room for the creativity of the performer. The whole show comes together very slowly. Most of our plays run just under an hour and generally take us six to eight months to make. 

The Beach Shack Theater Company will debut our latest project “Under a slow waterfall” on Thursday Nov. 21st 2024 at 12 pm SLT. This comic fairy tale tells a story about unforeseen consequences, and the power of nature and friendship. The show features a cast of performers: Kareen Magic stars as Titiri, a water fairy; Ayrne Greymoon is Arabel, a butterfly fairy, Domino Berberal is Daphne, a dryad of a laurel tree; and Maryse Teichmann is Lady Cailleah, a white witch. We also employ some animesh creatures in this show: the Blossoms, venerable Old Frog and huge and scary Scarlett.

It amazes me that this is the eleventh original play we have produced since starting the theater back in 2016. Kareen and I have endeavored to create as real a theater performance as we could possibly do given the limitation of our digital environment. Over the years we have created shows in a variety of styles and have continued to try to push the technical boundary of what could be done with SL theater. The development of the MetaHarper Show Tools has been instrumental for this, and the latest version creates an immersive experience that is like watching a movie.

Our company is all about creating original theater that goes in a different direction with each project. We feel this approach keeps our work fresh and interesting. We are ever grateful to those who have joined our company along the way and to others who have helped us on our projects, and even more so to the folks who have popped into our theater to see one of our shows.”Ayrne Greymoon, founder of  Beach Shack Theater

Join Beach Shack Theater inworld group to get notices about upcoming performances and other interesting information: we promise you will be really impressed and fascinated by their work! Be sure to attend at least one event: it will be enough to make you just fall in love and wish for one more, and one more – till you will became fans!

Here is the LM for Under a slow waterfall theatre performance – Thursday Nov. 21st 2024 – 12 pm SLT

See you there! And we will come back with more photos from “Under a slow waterfall” and articles about their future performances.