Event Space

Theater in Opensim is a lot of hard work, but well worth it, both for the performers and for the audience. The challenges are many - getting together a troupe who are able and willing to commit time and talent to the group project, figuring out how to convert a text into something workable in the virtual environment, where considerations about lag and scripts and assets can at times be super frustrating, plus the effort of getting an audience to come and see the performance - that's essential of course! We all know that the fragmented nature of opensim, and, let's confess it, the grid-tribalism we still suffer from just a bit, can make it hard for special events to get the audience they deserve.  Tristan Dehais and his opensim theatrical company "Les Théâtreux" are planning a long term project to put on "The Little Prince". 

By 'long term', we're talking about months of prep, with the idea of having the play ready next Spring. So you may ask, why blog about this now, so far in advance of the opening night? Well, that's s that you - yes you, you talented devil! - can maybe get involved; there are lots of ways that can be done, in terms of being an actor, helping out with props, scripts, loads of things on and off-stage. 

Tristan speaking during the French session of the Hypergrid International Expo, 2025

Tristan Dehaie gave an interesting talk about his experiences in virtual theater with "Les Théâtreux" at this year's HIE event and I asked him to go into more detail about his Opensim experience. He's French, so I wondered which grids had been to most impactful on his non SL virtual life. 

Tristan's Opensim theater, Event Space, is located on SV3D grid

Tristan Dehaie:  France-RP and SV3D. But it's more the people involved than the “grids” themselves, or their owners. In fact, I believe that anyone who sets up a grid (necessarily and consequently) wants activities to develop there.

Thirza Ember: That's for sure ! Can you tell us more about your activities in SL and opensim, and how the two compare? Does it keep you very busy?

Cool Poule

 Over the past weeks,  the group Les Theatreux has been working hard on a play called 'Et l'oeuf engendre la poule' which is a reference to the old expression 'which came first, the chicken or the egg', and Thursday night was the final performance. The whole thing took place in the purpose-built theater on sim EventSpace, on Minord Loup's grid, SV3D. The full HG Address is at the end of the post, of course.

Using as the soundtrack a radio broadcast of the  play from a few years back, the team took the story and interpreted it into 3D sets with appropriate lighting, poses, props, scenery and so on - all the bells and whistles of a theatrical representation. Kudos to the man behind the control panel, Tristan Dehaie. 

Tristan Dehaie, the man at the controls.

 It's a play by Jean Vilain - no, not the guy from the Expendables! - here's a potted autobiography by the author who has clearly had a long and entertaining career in theater in France. 

The Wonders of Wellspring

Opensim has a long and storied past, and certain projects exemplify the resilience, ingenuity and strength of  the community on the vast archipelago of independent grids that it comprises. One of these is the Sendalonde Library, currently residing on Digiworldz. 

This was the second destination on our Safari trip, and although we lost a few travelers due to the slight complication required to access the grid (you have to verify your UUID and some find that a bit complicated) the majority of us made it through. To welcome us, Alexina Proctor, Prax Maryjacz and Snoots Dwagon were on hand, and let us into the Sendalonde Theater which is an integrated part of the library building.

The Sendalonde Library is the gateway into 'Wellspring' - follow this link to learn more about that.

The Sendalonde is preparing for a grand reopening on Sunday October 16 at 1pm SLT , so you might say that our visit was a bit of a dress rehearsal for region performance! We saw a really nice slideshow down memory lane, ably put together by Alexina.