One of the key features of Shakespeare Sandwich is we want to maximise the use of back projection. This is for two reasons: (1) it aids quick transition between performances and (2) it can add a richness and depth to the performance itself. Having returned from Latitude (and spent much of it in the Theatre Tent) I have seen how it can be used:
- The play was a conversation between a war widow and the ghost of her husband. Both actors were on stage, but the widow was back stage right with a camera focussed on her face and projected to the back. This gave an incredible feeling of disconnect between the two characters.
- The play was a three-hander between disillusioned twenty-somethings. As well as providing a segue between acts, it was also used to show a pre-recorded close-up of each actor's face while they delivered a monologue.
- The play was a surreal story about an unhappy caretaker in run down apartments close to a red light district. The actors were part of an animated sequence that ran the entire performance, interacting with the animation - riding in a lift (in front of a screen), looking through a window (hole in the screen), taking a bath (screen behind and smaller screen in front)
- The performance was a surreal comedy about meat fusion (don't ask) and parts of the narrative used an OHP (like you used to have in classrooms) and simple yet effective acetates.
