Carnegie Mellon University | Virtual Reality Production
Sweet Sorrow VR
Sweet Sorrow is an immersive VR experience that brings Shakespearean drama to life through virtual reality. Wearing a VR headset, users step onto a digitally recreated Blackfriars stage and embody Romeo or Juliet, delivering lines that appear before them and performing alongside virtual actors. By blending classic theater with modern technology, Sweet Sorrow transforms the way we experience the Bard's timeless narratives.
This project is part of the Shakespeare-VR Project, an educational initiative at Carnegie Mellon University supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities. As creative director, I collaborated with Dr. Stephen Wittek of CMU's English Department to bring his vision of an embodied Shakespeare education into virtual reality. Rather than simply watching a performance, students perform it themselves, and that shift from spectator to actor is what makes the experience powerful.
Motion Capture
One of the most exciting aspects of the project was using motion capture suits to capture accurate gestures for the animated game characters. The gestures add context to the words, accentuating the educational aspect of the experience. The actors, both students from CMU's School of Drama, had a blast trying something brand new to them, and we all learned a tremendous amount as we troubleshot issues and found the best solutions for capturing the most accurate motions. There was a lot to think about, such as outlining the boundaries of the famous balcony, which direction characters should look, how much arm movement is best, and how to make gestures that would translate well to animated characters.
Preserving Authenticity
Authenticity was at the heart of the project. The virtual stage is a historically accurate simulation of the Blackfriars Playhouse, the indoor theater used by Shakespeare's company. In the early phase of the Shakespeare-VR Project, our team traveled to Staunton, Virginia to document the reconstructed Blackfriars Playhouse with a VR camera, working with professional Shakespearean actors. That research shaped every detail of Sweet Sorrow, from the architecture of the stage to the way performers move within it. Shakespeare's players performed in fully lit spaces where the audience shared the drama together, and recreating that condition was essential to helping students understand what his theater truly felt like.
Experience Sweet Sorrow
Interested in stepping onto the Blackfriars stage as Romeo or Juliet? Sweet Sorrow is available to download for free. Put on a headset, and take part in the drama yourself, reciting lines and performing before a virtual audience.
Credits
Creative Director: Jaehee Cho
Project Director: Dr. Stephen Wittek
Programmer: Bokang Wang
3D Artist: Anlan Yang
Writer: Erika JC Laing
Project Advisor: Ralph Vituccio