Boca del Lupo’s VR Salon showcases two critically acclaimed works, May 24 to 28

Part of LivePerformance360 series, event features Goliath: Playing with Reality and The Man Who Couldn’t Leave

SPONSORED POST BY Boca del Lupo

Goliath: Playing with Reality, narrated by Tilda Swinton, a virtual reality work featured in the VR Salon.

Boca del Lupo presents VR Salon, a curation of two innovative and award-winning virtual reality works, from May 24 to 28 at The Fishbowl on Granville Island.

Showtimes for the immersive experience are at 5:30 pm, 7 pm, and 8:30 pm each day from May 24 to 27, with matinee runs at 2 pm and 3:30 pm on May 27 and 28. The event is the second in Boca del Lupo’s LivePerformance360 series, which explores the intersection of contemporary performance and immersive technology through virtual reality works from around the world.

Narrated by Academy Award-winning actress Tilda Swinton, U.K.-France animation Goliath: Playing with Reality from creative studio Anagram is a virtual reality experience about schizophrenia, gaming, and connection.

This mind-bending exploration of a true story, directed by Barry Gene Murphy and May Abdalla, is the winner of the Grand Jury Prize for Best VR Immersive Work at the 2021 Venice International Film Festival, and nominated in 2022 for a News & Documentary Emmy Award in the Outstanding Interactive Media Innovation category.

Echo (Swinton’s narration) guides you through the many realities of Goliath, a man who spent years isolated in psychiatric institutions but finds connection in multiplayer games. Combining heart-felt dialogue, mesmerizing visuals, and symbolic interactions, viewers can weave through multiple worlds to uncover Goliath’s poignant story.

Taiwan’s The Man Who Couldn’t Leave, directed by Singing Chen, begins within the walls of the former Green Island prison. Set in the 1950s, political detainee A-Kuen tells the stories of the imprisonment and persecution that occurred during the White Terror in Taiwan. Frozen in time among fellow inmates, he recounts his own experiences and those of his friend, A-Ching, who never made it out.

The 2022 winner of the Venice Immersive Best Experience Award at the Venice Biennale, the work conveys the suffering and hopes of the Taiwanese people, and their desire for a better society. It shares that it is only if stories are continuously told, and the sacrifices of earlier generations are remembered, that the spirit of an ideal world can be continued from generation to generation.

Tickets and more information about the VR Salon event can be found at Boca del Lupo.

Post sponsored by Boca del Lupo.

The Man Who Couldn’t Leave, a virtual reality work featured in the VR Salon.