Augmented and Virtual Reality Laboratory (AVR Lab)
News
The international theatrical production “To Demetra - The Women’s Day #1”, directed by Fabio Tolledi, has launched its European journey after debuting in Lecce and premiering abroad in Podgorica (Montenegro). The performance is part of the Creative Europe project ABC - The Alphabet of Love, a three year cooperation involving partners from Italy, Spain, Poland, Tunisia and Montenegro, and represents a significant example of collaboration between performing arts and scientific research.
The show also continues a long-standing collaboration between Astràgali Teatro and the AVR Lab of the University of Salento, directed by Prof. Lucio Tommaso De Paolis. Over the years this partnership has strengthened the artistic intuitions of the director through technological experimentation, creating a shared research path where theatre and digital innovation evolve together. In this production the laboratory worked in particular with Spatial Augmented Reality and Artificial Intelligence, tools that enriched the scenic language and introduced new interpretative layers.
The AVR Lab designed and developed the digital and immersive dimension of the performance, transforming the stage into a hybrid physical-virtual environment in which projections and visual elements actively interact with the actors and the dramaturgy. The technological apparatus does not function as a background but becomes a narrative agent: images are generated and adapted in real time, modifying spatial perception and guiding audience interpretation. Through a symbiotic collaboration with the artistic direction, the team explored the duality between masculine and feminine identities using both interactive and non-interactive projections created from recordings of the performers and selected visual materials. The resulting interplay of revelation and superimposition leaves spectators free to reinterpret gender roles and meanings.
Inspired by Aristophanes’ Thesmophoriazusae, the play uses comedy to address contemporary themes such as coexistence, gender relations and social responsibility. Within this context, the technological contribution of the AVR Lab enabled a shared experiential dimension between performers and audience, enhancing accessibility and intercultural communication through visual storytelling. The theatrical environment thus became an experimental platform in which extended-reality solutions were tested in a live setting, allowing researchers to observe how audiences interact with immersive narrative systems outside controlled laboratory conditions.
Following the Italian debut at Astràgali Teatro and the international premiere in Podgorica, the production will continue touring across Europe and the Mediterranean area. The circulation of the performance therefore also disseminates the research results developed in Lecce, demonstrating how digital humanities and performing arts can converge into a unified research-creation process. Through To Demetra - The Women’s Day #1, the AVR Lab confirms its role not only as a technological partner but as a creative research actor contributing to the development of new expressive languages in which theatre, artificial intelligence and immersive media coexist.
The laboratory also wishes to warmly thank the city of Podgorica and its cultural institutions for the generous hospitality offered to both the artists and the research team. The welcoming environment and the strong collaboration with local partners created the ideal conditions for artistic exchange and experimentation, making the international premiere not only a performance but a shared cultural experience.
The cover image is reproduced from the Podgorica City Theatre website.
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