thanks. thank you. all right. shakespeare s 16th century birthplace is home to some 21st century theater manningic. the tempest meets technology. that s ahead.
so if you are a fan of shakespeare, you ll recognize the line we are such stuff as dreams are made on from the tempest. very good. now some 21st century theater magic is hoping drive that point home. here s nick glass for you. reporter: we ve become accustomed to high production values at the royal shakespeare company. frankly, we expect it. many colors, do not disobey the reporter: this time the rsc seems to have surpassed itself almost psychedelically. refreshing reporter: in shakespeare s 400th anniversary, we wanted a celebration. this is the last authored play that requires extraordinary magical effects.
he gets a skintight bodysuit, the kind used by actors in films like x-men and is wired up with 17 sensors from head to toe. is it a different kind of acting? no, it s not. it s not. i suppose there s an awareness of the physical gestures, but you d be doing that anyway if you were acting, i think. no, it s exciting. it gives him a bit more power, i think, aerial can create different versions of himself at will. reporter: so beyond the bank of computers, a ghostly avatar of aerial took shape. we were given rare access to the final few days of rehearsal to marvel a little, to eavesdrop. alas, i left in the reporter: first glimpse of the tempest visually re-imagined, aerial, his javata, and his master, the magician prosperer. theater s always been very
we wanted it special in this particular year. reporter: gregory doran was alerted to something on youtube, a presentation by the technology giant intel. this big whale swam to this huge screen behind the ceo s head, and then he said, we know we can do this, but what if we could do this. and the whale swam through the screen and swam over the audience s heads. i said, that s what i want for the tempest. reporter: so the rsc embraced digital magic, capturing an actor s movement with special cameras and computers, so-called motion capture. and they consulted an expert. sort of like a combination of theater, video game, and film making skills coming together really. and it s what we call at the imaginarium the birth of next-generation storytelling. reporter: many of the special effects were designed for one character the spirit aerial.