Interview | EM Williams, 'DREAM' The RSC
One of the best things that has come from the last 12 months for me is being able to experience how the industry has flourished in new ways that bring their audiences together. Although it isn’t the same as being able to sit in the auditorium the magic of theatre has still had its spark this entire time through exciting new platforms. One of those theatres is The RSC.
The RSC is a fantastic hub that last summer delivered outdoor performances, Shakespeare Snapshots and now they’re bringing Dream to their devoted audiences between 12 March – 20 March 2021. Dream is a live performance set in a virtual midsummer forest.
Dream combines performance and gaming technology together to explore new ways for audiences to experience live theatre.
Dream is alive performance set in a virtual midsummer forest. Inspired by Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, it will give you a unique opportunity to directly influence the live performance, from wherever you are in the world. At the heart of this production is the character of Puck and making their RSC debut is EM Williams. I caught up with EM to find out more about this new theatrical experience!
To begin with, can you tell people a little bit about yourself?
I’m EM, my pronouns are them/they. I am a non-binary, queer theatre maker originally from Northampton. I started off by attending youth theatre, my parents took me to the wrong evening once. I was supposed to be going for a 8-12 class and I ended up in the 13-21 class at the Castle Youth Theatre in Wellingborough. It was the only day my mum could take me so that’s how it kicked off for me.
Youth theatre really helped me come into my own and from that I went to university. I learnt my craft on the job and through rep things. I studied a Masters and that took me to California. I took a couple of classes there in stage combat. I came back and did a lot of facilitating with children. I worked a lot in the Midlands, working with Highly Sprung was one of my favourite jobs.
You’ll be playing Puck, what is it like creating this character in this digital format?
It really is like no stream you’ve ever seen. It’s a very honed down version because there’s so many instruments to play. In this space its been so backwards, technology is the main narrative. It is a weird and jarring way of working but it’s such a good life lesson in general. I have to be in the moment with this production because there’s always changes.
There’s so many people working on this show and it’s growing everyday. It’s been in the pipeline for a few years. We’re putting Dream together in the one of the oldest buildings in Portsmouth with some of the highest technology in the world. We’re only allowed a specific amount of people in the studio so there’s people zooming in remotely to have eyes on the space.
What have been the challenges of this production?
The biggest challenge which sounds ridiculous but its not being able to go to the pub for dinner afterwards. Getting to build relationships with my cast has been difficult. We do cast Zooms and have found safe ways to still do that!
What was the creative process like?
I spend a lot of time in a motion capture suit, I think it has 49 trackers on it. We had a lot of fittings for that suit. We have to calibrate ourselves to the system everyday. There’s a lot of time in the space where we play with ideas with Sarah Perry who has been fantastic. We have things in the space that represent different props, we tend to improvise movement and tech around the given idea or theme then try and put it into the space. It’s different from day to day, there are so many layers to this piece!
Why do you think the RSC chose to play with the idea of DREAM over other Shakespeare’s work for this project?
It’s one of the first stories I ever learnt. There is a massive amount of accessibility in terms of the sheer range of characters and voices in there, in terms of class, comedy, relationships. It really is a story that you can see a piece of yourself in at least one character in Dream I think. I do think this is what makes it so popular in choice when it comes to school, especially getting young audiences engaged with it. It’s got a great pace to it.
This is not A Midsummers Night Dream, this is Dream. It is an adaptation inspired specifically by the forest and the other world, the sprites and Puck. It’s about inviting the audience in to what is the magic of a forest? What is the magic of that specific evening in midsummer when the veil between the human world and the sprite world is uncovered.
It’s very exciting. I think motion capture is the most beautiful way that this story could be shown.
Why do you think people should purchase a ticket?
It is incredibly accessible in price, you can pay for free or £10 depending on how much you’d like to be involved with this show. I think there’s something really special about it. Puck can’t go on this journey without the people who are participating. I need the audience or I can’t go anywhere. It is a really exciting show and I think everyone will enjoy it!
Performances take place from Friday 12 March to Saturday 20 March 2021. You can visit dream.online on your mobile, desktop or tablet and enjoy a performance that uses the latest gaming and theatre technology, as well as an interactive symphonic score which responds to the actors’ movement during the show.