You are warmly invited to join us in Reading this June for:

USER NOT FOUND: Social Media Technologies in Immersive Performance

A one-day performance symposium

Thursday 28th June from 1.30pm at Minghella Studios, University of Reading

The research project User Not Found: Social Media Technologies in Immersive Performance, based at the University of Reading, is investigating social media in immersive participatory performance. The project is a collaboration between Dante or Die (theatre company), Marmelo Digital (technology company) and the centre for death and society at the University of Bath.

As part of the project, theatre company Dante or Die have teamed up with Marmelo Digital to devise User Not Found, a performance that uses social media to explore the impact personal digital devices has on our grieving process. The audience will participate in the live performance via mobile phones and headphones, as they follow a character’s experience of bereavement.

This one-day symposium aims to explore ideas connected to social media in theatre. We particularly welcome attendees interested in taking part in conversations on issues of liveness, the impact of social media technologies on performance and space and its future potential for technological intermediality and immersivity. It will also address questions around digital legacies, virtual memorialisation, and the impact of social media on the grieving process. The format of the day includes practitioner presentations, panel discussions and a keynote paper that looks at the use of headphones in theatre. The event includes a special evening performance of User Not Found (90 minutes) at South Street Arts Centre, followed by a discussion led by theatre company, Dante or Die and Lib Taylor. Wine and canapés will be served upon arrival at the theatre from 6pm.

To sign up for this FREE event please email Lucy Jeffery via lucy.jeffery@reading.ac.uk and specify whether you require tickets for the performance as well as the symposium. Tickets for the performance will be allocated on a first come first served basis.

PARTICIPANTS INCLUDE:

Luke Alexander & Abhinav Bajpai (Co-founders of Marmelo Digital)

Dan Barnard (Artistic director of fanSHEN and lecturer at London South Bank University)

Terry O’Donovan & Daphna Attias (Co-artistic directors of Dante or Die)

Sophie Gunn (Access associate for Dante or Die)

Laurence Hill (Director of the Brighton Digital Festival)

Professor Rosie Klich (University of Essex)

Jack Lowe (Artistic director of curious directive)

Dr Eirini Nedelkopoulou (University of York, St. John)

Dr Jo Scott (University of Salford)

Professor Lib Taylor (University of Reading)

Dr John Troyer (University of Bath)

Janet Vaughan (Designer and co-artistic director of Talking Birds)

Additional contributors to be confirmed.

For further information please contact the organisers, Lib Taylor and Lucy Jeffery: l.j.taylor@reading.ac.uk lucy.jeffery@reading.ac.uk

https://research.reading.ac.uk/usernotfound/

https://twitter.com/UserNotFound_18

This symposium is part of the AHRC funded project, User Not Found: Social Media Technologies as Immersive Performance; Principal Investigator Professor Lib Taylor, University of Reading, and Co-Investigator Dr John Troyer, Centre for Death and Society, University of Bath

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