Draw Me Close
Written and directed by Jordan Tannahill.
A co-production between the National Film Board of Canada and the National Theatre.
2019
Virtual Reality Performance
Selections and Awards
Trailer
Short Synopsis
Draw Me Close blurs the worlds of live performance, virtual reality and animation to create a vivid memoir about the relationship between a mother and her son charting twenty-five years of love, learning and loss . Weaving theatrical storytelling with cutting-edge technology, the individual immersive experience allows the audience member to take the part of the protagonist, Jordan, inside a live, animated world.
The experience is by award-winning playwright and filmmaker Jordan Tannahill, and is a co-production between the National Film Board of Canada and the National Theatre’s Immersive Storytelling Studio. Creative technology is by All Seeing Eye, with illustrations by Teva Harrison.
Medium Synopsis
Draw Me Close blurs the worlds of live performance, virtual reality and animation to create a vivid memoir about the relationship between a mother and her son charting twenty-five years of love, learning and loss. Weaving theatrical storytelling with cutting-edge technology, the individual immersive experience allows the audience member to take the part of the protagonist, Jordan, inside a live, animated world.
The experience is by award-winning playwright and filmmaker Jordan Tannahill, and is a co-production between the National Film Board of Canada and the National Theatre’s Immersive Storytelling Studio. Creative technology is by All Seeing Eye, with illustrations by Teva Harrison.
This spellbinding immersive experience is brought to life through live performance combined with a real-time motion capture system transforming an ordinary room into a captivating 3D interactive virtual world. The audience member enters the performance space and puts on a VR headset. They enter Jordan’s childhood home and move from room to room, navigating seamlessly through a world that is both physical and virtual. They are guided by Jordan’s mother, played by an actress. As the mother engages with the audience member in the physical world, her movements are translated by motion capture into the virtual world. What results is a disarmingly intimate and enthrallingly one-on-one performance that charts the lifelong relationship between a mother and her son.
Long Synopsis
Draw Me Close blurs the worlds of live performance, virtual reality and animation to create a vivid memoir about the relationship between a mother and her son charting twenty-five years of love, learning and loss. Weaving theatrical storytelling with cutting-edge technology, the individual immersive experience allows the audience member to take the part of the protagonist, Jordan, inside a live, animated world.
The experience is by award-winning playwright and filmmaker Jordan Tannahill, and is a co-production between the National Film Board of Canada and the National Theatre’s Immersive Storytelling Studio. Creative technology is by All Seeing Eye, with illustrations by Teva Harrison.
This spellbinding immersive experience is brought to life through live performance combined with a real-time motion capture system transforming an ordinary room into a captivating 3D interactive virtual world. The audience member enters the performance space and puts on a VR headset. They enter Jordan’s childhood home and move from room to room, navigating seamlessly through a world that is both physical and virtual. They are guided by Jordan’s mother, played by an actress. As the mother engages with the audience member in the physical world, her movements are translated by motion capture into the virtual world. What results is a disarmingly intimate and enthrallingly one-on-one performance that charts the lifelong relationship between a mother and her son.
Says Tannahill: “There’s no other story that weighs more heavily on my mind right now than my relationship with my mother—a story that’s still in the process of unfolding—and Draw Me Close has been an extraordinary opportunity for me to reckon with all of those challenging and ultimately unknowable questions around mortality.”
Earlier work-in-progress versions of the piece were presented at the Tribeca Film Festival’s Storyscapes program and the Venice International Film Festival, where it was met with critical and audience acclaim.
Creator 's Statement
In the wake of my mother’s terminal cancer diagnosis, I became preoccupied with thoughts of the body and its ephemerality. About what the body accrues and carries with it through time, as an archive of memory and sensation. Trauma, touch, tenderness. And seeing as both my mother and I are artists (she’s an accomplished, amateur painter), I thought about art-making as a salve against mortality. A way of extending the body even further, beyond itself, through time.
When I was approached by the National Film Board of Canada and the National Theatre to explore virtual reality through my lenses as a theatre maker, these thoughts were top of mind. And there was something about virtual reality that seemed to strike at the very heart of these questions about the body, death, and the nature of memory. For one, I was struck by the way virtual reality could mimic the sensation of traversing through the landscape of memory or dream; where you can be standing in your bedroom as a five-year-old one moment, but then turn and suddenly be fifteen and standing in your kitchen. Or how a glass of water on the table can seem so tangible in one second but then when you look back down at it, it is no longer there. Or how someone might suddenly age years before your eyes. The slippages of time and space possible within virtual reality felt quite unique, in their intensity and immersive immediacy, than any other medium I had experienced, and I knew this was something I wanted to play with.
I also felt clear about the need to preserve three essential aspects of live performance. Firstly, the piece had to be truly live. Quite fundamentally, there had to be events unfolding in real time. Secondly, it had to have a sense of corporeality. As a theatre artist, I work with bodies in space; the bodies of the performers and the bodies of the audience. It felt important that the piece was an embodied experience; not something designed for a floating head as much VR seemed to be. Thirdly, the work had to be communal. The opportunity to gather and have a collective reckoning with others in a shared space is perhaps the most vital gift of theatre. Even in a one-to-one performance, there is a sacred exchange occurring.
All of this led me to the shape of Draw Me Close as it exists now: an intimate encounter between an audience member and an actress that charts a lifeline relationship between a mother and son. A piece that blends animation, virtual reality, live performance, scenography, and sound design to give life to the sublime agony of loving and inevitably losing those who have shaped us the most.
— Jordan Tannahill
Co-Development Text
What happens when an artist employs virtual reality, documentary and theatre to tell a story? More importantly, which stories can be told better by specifically bringing the three disciplines together?
This question was the impetus behind this unique collaboration between two internationally acclaimed organizations sharing a rich history in pushing the possibilities of storytelling: the National Film Board of Canada and the UK’s National Theatre.
During their inaugural three-week collaborative rapid-prototyping lab, theatre artists and creatives from both countries were engaged to develop work that combined creative documentary, theatre and VR production. The intent was to explore and advance the language of creative non-fiction immersive storytelling. Draw Me Close is the first project to come out of the lab.
“The NFB has a rich history of documentary storytelling and creative experimentation. We’re excited to bring that experience to bear to help define the language of creative non-fiction VR. This partnership with the National Theatre’s groundbreaking Immersive Storytelling Studio is an important part of our explorations in this space, and we are delighted by the unique possibilities opened up by combining the traditions of our respective organizations.”
– David Oppenheim, Producer at the National Film Board of Canada
“Storytelling is the lifeblood of both our organizations, and the possibilities opened up by combining the traditions of our respective industries are very compelling. I have long admired the work of the NFB—they are one of the most critically acclaimed storytellers in the industry. It was very exciting to partner with them on this project and to explore together documentary theatre and verbatim theatre using these new forms of immersive storytelling.”
– Toby Coffey, Head of Digital Development at the National Theatre
For more information about the NFB, visit https://www.nfb.ca/ and http://onf-nfb.gc.ca/en/about-the-nfb/the-nfb-today/introduction/.
For more information about the National Theatre’s Immersive Storytelling Studio, visit https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/immersive/.
Images
Team
Jordan Tannahill
Creator
Biography
Photo
Photo : Alejandro Santiago
Jordan Tannahill
Jordan Tannahill is a playwright, author, and filmmaker. Tannahill’s plays have been produced across Canada and internationally, translated into multiple languages, and honoured with various prizes including two Governor General’s Literary Awards. Over the last year, Tannahill’s play Late Company transferred to London’s West End; his debut novel Liminal was published by House of Anansi; he premiered his play Declarations at Canadian Stage; and he collaborated with dancer-choreographer Akram Khan on Xenos, currently touring internationally.
Teva Harrison
Illustrator
Biography
Photo
Teva Harrison
Teva Harrison is a critically acclaimed artist, writer, cartoonist and author who is based in Toronto. Her bestselling hybrid graphic memoir, In-Between Days: A Memoir About Living With Cancer, was shortlisted for the Governor General’s Literary Award for Non-Fiction and named one of the best books of the year by The Globe and Mail, The National Post, CBC, iBooks, KOBO, Walrus Magazine and The Quill and Quire. Harrison’s comics, which have appeared regularly on The Walrus’s website, explore everything from her magic-filled hippie childhood to what it means to live with metastatic breast cancer. Harrison was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer at age 37 and has since been invited by numerous health organizations to speak publicly on behalf of the metastatic cancer community.
Ollie Lindsey
Creative Director (All Seeing Eye)
Biography
Photo
Ollie Lindsey
Since graduating Graphic Design from Falmouth in 2004, Ollie Lindsey has worked as a founder, creative & technical director, running the creative technology studio Play Nicely. Mainly focussed on the Arts and Cultural sector, he designs experiences for installation, events, online and mobile. His work mixes the application of emerging technologies such as 360o Film, Virtual and Augmented Reality with more traditional settings, reaching audiences in new, exciting and unexpected ways. Most notably his recent VR work with the National Theatre has been selected to be represented at Sundance, Cannes, Seattle and Sydney Film Festival amongst others. Ollie will be leading the Production team over the course of the project.
David Oppenheim
Producer (NFB)
Biography
Photo
David Oppenheim
David Oppenheim is a producer at the National Film Board of Canada’s Toronto Studio where his recent credits include Draw Me Close (Tribeca Storyscapes, Venice Film Festival), the Webby award-winning Universe Within, the final chapter of the NFB’s Highrise project, and the interactive documentary The Space We Hold which was awarded the Peabody-Facebook Futures of Media Award, the Best Original Interactive Production at the Canadian Screen Awards, and the Columbia University Digital Dozen Storytelling Award. David is currently producing a number of creative non-fiction film, interactive, and immersive projects and leading the studio’s immersive lab. He is a past resident at the Canadian Film Centre’s Media Lab.
Toby Coffey
Head of Digital Development (National Theatre)
Biography
Photo
Toby Coffey
Toby Coffey has over 15 years of expertise in the digital arena, spanning creative, technical, production and social perspectives. As the head of digital development at the UK’s National Theatre, he focuses on developing forms of digital engagement and interaction around the NT and its repertoire of productions. Among his many credits, Coffey co-produced the documentary Making War Horse, a behind-the-scenes look at the groundbreaking techniques used in one of the most acclaimed productions in NT history. He was also executive producer on the award-winning Alan Bennett and the Habit of Art, and on Frankenstein: A Modern Myth, which explores the relevance of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein to modern society using Danny Boyle’s NT production as a central reference point. Coffey is currently leading the National Theatre’s Immersive Storytelling initiative, which explores the use of 360 films, VR and installations in crafting compelling methods of storytelling.
Anita Lee
Executive Producer
Biography
Photo
Photo : NFB
Anita Lee
Anita Lee is Executive Producer at the National Film Board of Canada and leads the development and production of projects produced solely by the NFB as well as domestic and international co-productions for the Ontario Studio. She is the executive producer of a slate of upcoming projects that includes Unarmed Verses and A Better Man.
As a producer for the NFB from 2005 to the present, Anita produced some of the most critically acclaimed works in recent NFB history, including Sarah Polley’s Stories We Tell, which garnered international recognition and was named Best Documentary Feature Film by National Board of Review, Los Angeles Film Critics Association, New York Film Critics Circle, Canadian Screen Awards, and Best Canadian Film by the Toronto Film Critics Association. Past productions include Tiger Spirit, Gemini Award winner for Best Social/Political Documentary, The Bodybuilder and I, Hot Docs Best Feature Documentary winner, and Flicker, Hot Docs Jury Prize winner, Best Canadian Feature Documentary.
Lee’s most recent credits include Highrise: Universe Within, winner of the 2016 Webby Award as well as Best Original Interactive Production Produced for Digital Media at the Canadian Screen Awards in 2015; The Deeper They Bury Me, which premiered at the New York Film Festival; and most recently, The Apology,runner up Audience Award at Hot Docs International Film Festival and the Cinephile Award for Best Documentary at Busan 2016. She is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Credits
WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY
Jordan Tannahill
PRODUCERS
Johanna Nicholls
David Oppenheim
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS
Toby Coffey
Anita Lee
SET DESIGN
Tom Paris
SOUND DESIGN
Gareth Fry
ILLUSTRATIONS
Teva Harrison
ADDITIONAL ILLUSTRATIONS
Ollie Kay
CREATIVE TECHNOLOGISTS
All Seeing Eye
MOTION CAPTURE LEAD
Aylwin Lo
SENIOR DEVELOPER, MOCAP
Lukasz Ruminsky
FOR THE NATIONAL THEATRE
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Rufus Norris
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Lisa Burger
SENIOR MARKETING MANAGER
Aurora Lewis
PRESS OFFICE
Emma Hardy
COMPANY ADMINISTRATION MANAGER
Mary Carter
LITERARY CONTRACTS MANAGER
Claire Sclater
SOLICITOR
Christine Murray
GENERAL COUNSEL
Rebecca Thompson
HEAD OF PRODUCTION
Paul Handley
SOUND AND VIDEO RESOURCES TECHNICIAN
Elena Chrysopoulou
Clark Henry-Brown
PRODUCTION COORDINATORS
Myles Marshall
Sophie Swithinbank
Clarence Tan
Accenture are the proud supporters of the National Theatre’s Immersive Storytelling Studio
FOR THE NFB
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMMING
Michelle van Beusekom
PRODUCER, DEVELOPMENT
Justine Pimlott
MANAGER, STUDIO OPERATIONS
Mark Wilson
ASSOCIATE PRODUCER
Kate Vollum
PRODUCTION SUPERVISOR
Marcus Matyas
TECHNICAL COORDINATOR
Kevin Riley
DIGITAL PROJECT MANAGER
Jessica Parsons
Monica Blaylock
MARKETING MANAGER
Tammy Peddle
MARKETING COORDINATORS
Florent Prevelle
Stéphanie Quevillon
Sophie Thouin
PUBLICIST
Jennifer Mair
LEGAL COUNSEL
Peter Kallianiotis
DISTRIBUTION BUSINESS AFFAIRS
Mary Graziano
PRODUCTION COORDINATORS
Jennifer Bertling
France Nyarko-Mensah
Press Relations
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About the National Film Board of Canada
The NFB is Canada’s public producer of award-winning creative documentaries, auteur animation, interactive stories and participatory experiences. NFB producers are embedded in communities across the country, from St. John’s to Vancouver, working with talented creators on innovative and socially relevant projects. The NFB is a leader in gender equity in film and digital media production, and is working to strengthen Indigenous-led production, guided by the recommendations of Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission. NFB productions have won over 7,000 awards, including 24 Canadian Screen Awards, 21 Webbys, 12 Oscars and more than 100 Genies. To access this award-winning content and discover the work of NFB creators, visit NFB.ca, download its apps for mobile devices or visit NFB Pause.
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About the National Theatre
The National Theatre make world-class theatre that is entertaining, challenging and inspiring, and they make it for everyone. The work the NT produces appeals to the widest possible audiences with new plays, musicals, re-imagined classics and new work for young audiences. The NT’s work is seen in the West End, on tour throughout the UK and internationally, and in collaborations and co-productions with partners across the country. Through NT Live, they broadcast some of the best of British theatre to over 2,000 venues in 60 countries around the world. The NT’s Immersive Storytelling Studio examines how Virtual Reality (VR), 360° film, augmented reality and other emerging technologies can widen and enhance the NT’s remit to be a pioneer of dramatic storytelling and to enable an audience to stand in the shoes of another. Accenture is the National Theatre’s ‘Partner for Innovation’ and supporter of the Immersive Storytelling Studio. They are providing both financial and in-kind support to enable digital innovation and will use their digital strategy and delivery expertise to help the Studio create unique, immersive theatrical experiences. nationaltheatre.org.uk