By Ed Fortune
One of these days, someone will figure out the perfect blend of virtual reality technology and stage production to create a truly special, immersive and interactive experience. Aionos is an attempt to bring this sort of experience to the Edinburgh Fringe, and sadly, this ambitious project falls very short of its goals.
The premise is that it’s the far future, and the Egyptian gods now operate in some sort of reality TV show. Our host, Anubis, comments as souls enter the Underworld and face multiple challenges. The show isn’t getting that many ratings, so Set joins in to add some chaos. Thoth assists with the technology as well as some sarcasm.
The Underworld is projected onto the screen behind the actors and is a virtual environment. This entire set-up is so that performers in Toronto can jump on and interact with the show via a virtual reality headset. The bulk of the action takes place in a blocky, video game-style world which looks quite crude and blocky. Throughout the show, commentary appears on the screen thanks to an ongoing Discord chat between two more performers who are taking on the roles of very chatty bots. They add nothing to the story.
Aionos is an interesting experiment but not an entertaining one. It uses fairly established technology, such as VR and chatrooms that have recently been repackaged and presented as new and special. One of the big problems with the production is that in trying to do something special with the technology, they failed with the basics.
The script isn’t very good. There has been no stage direction, so much so that one of the performers just sits in one place for the entire performance, blocking out part of the stage for anyone unlucky enough to sit in the wrong place. The performers are inexperienced and have had no guidance, so the acting isn’t very good. Despite everyone involved having a lot of fun, this does not translate to the audience. It’s boring; you will have more fun watching a video game being streamed on Twitch. This is a show that needs more investment in being a show, maybe with the help of a skilled dramaturge.
Aionos is a very interesting technology demo and a fun experiment, but it’s not really a show. It’s advertised as a hybrid theatrical experience, but it’s essentially a very fancy Zoom call. It brings nothing new in terms of theatre, and the tech side is not very exciting. But this is the Fringe, and it is the place to try new things. Worth a look for the curious or for those looking to add similar ideas to other productions.
You can find out more about Aionos here.
