Current, Rising, delivered using Figment Productions’ Hyphen hyper-reality platform, combines the digital innovation of virtual reality with sound, movement and a physical environment to create a multi-sensory, immersive opera experience. As audiences step into an atmospheric virtual world, they experience a dream-like journey, carried musically by a poem layered in song.
Thanks to sophisticated software and hardware technology, each audience member can be completely mobile, navigating freely in the space while having a shared experience in real time that stimulates all of their senses. It is a radical new way of seeing opera in which the audience are at the centre of the performance. It also feels like a show for our time; exploring isolation and connection and how we can join together to rethink and reimagine our futures.
Inspired by the liberation of Ariel at the end of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Current, Rising was developed by immersive specialists Figment Productions and The Royal Opera House with a female-led creative team – director Netia Jones, designer Joanna Scotcher, composer Samantha Fernando, and librettist Melanie Wilson. Exec Producers were Annette Mees (ROH) and Simon Reveley (Figment).
The singing voice is acclaimed soprano Anna Dennis. The CHROMA ensemble was conducted by Richard Baker.
We are a diverse team with talent from all over the globe: over 8 nationalities, upwards of 5 native languages (and many more secondary languages). We regularly recruit graduates and offer in-house training, sharing the skills and experience of our senior team who in turn absorb new ideas, techniques and technologies. Our mixture of cultures and the naturally inclusive nature of the Figment family mean that we have a constantly overflowing pool of ideas, opinions, views and sensitivities to bring to bear on each project, allowing us to produce work for our clients that appeals to all audiences.
As a company, Figment is best known for creating Derren Brown’s Ghost Train, Thorpe Park (2017), Galactica, the world’s first rollercoaster dedicated to VR, Alton Towers (2016), Kraken Unleashed, SeaWorld Orlando (2017), and The Great Lego Race, a VR Rollercoaster experience launched in numerous Legoland Resorts worldwide (2018).
Our industry leading professionals have delivered millions (yes, literally millions) of immersive experiences around the world. Over the last decade, we have delivered 360 video, CGI (Computer Generated Imagery), visual effects and dedicated VR projects for some of the biggest brands, which include LEGO, Merlin Entertainments, SeaWorld, Coca-Cola, Volvo, Universal Studios and a range of internationally known sports brands from Wimbledon to Liverpool FC and Chelsea FC.
Website: https://figmentproductions.co.uk