Newry born actor and performer, Sean Kearns, is set to star in Cahoots NI’s latest immersive magical digital theatre experience.
The University of Wonder and Imagination is an hour-long interactive digital theatre production that allows audiences to effectively direct the performance, based on their interaction with the performers from the comfort of their own home.
In this ambitious and innovative undertaking, Sean will be part of the Cahoots NI team broadcasting from an extensive, purpose-built set in Belfast, where magic and illusion have no boundaries.
Sean said that he was looking forward to taking part, and can’t wait until audiences get to experience it.
“The sheer scale of this show and the technical wizardry required to bring it to fruition is what excited me,” he said.
“From my initial chat with Cahoots NI Artistic Director Paul Bosco Mc Eneaney it became very clear how passionate he was about bringing a different style of on-line performance to life.
“The wonderfully frightening thing about this project is that the format is new to all of us, so we are all discovering it together. Technically the show is enormous, and we are still figuring out what can be achieved. As the University Motto states ‘In Imagination we Trust and in Wonder We Must’.”
The show will have it’s Northern Ireland premiere as part of this year’s Belfast International Arts Festival running from October 22nd – 25th and 29th – November 1.
The 55-year-old is no stranger to the ambitious productions of the theatre company.
“I have previously worked with Cahoots on Two Christmas at The Mac Belfast, playing Rocombollo in Pinocchio and Stan the shoemaker in The Elves and the Shoemaker, he said.
“I love working with Cahoots as Paul really knows who his target audience is, I love being in a rehearsal room with him helping him bring to reality the myriad of incredible ideas he has flying around his head.”
For Sean this is the latest in a long line of successes.
“I didn’t go to drama school so the fact that I have performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company for two seasons plus two seasons at Shakespeare’s Globe,” he explained. “I have appeared in the West End in Billy Elliot, The 39 Steps, The Commitments, Wicked and the comedy About a Bank Robbery.”
Other credits include the hit TV show, Ballykissangel and the film Angela’s Ashes.
Limited to pre-booked audience numbers per performance, guests of the University of Wonder and Imagination will assemble with their fellow University students and, led by the mysterious Professor Bamberg, will embark on a journey where nothing is quite what it seems.
Audiences will interact with lively lecturers, experience themed rooms filled with illusion and encounter problems and puzzles in an attempt to unlock magical powers and graduate with flying colours.
Speaking about the new production, Paul Bosco Mc Eneaney, Creator/Director of The University of Wonder and Imagination, and Artistic Director of Cahoots NI, said: “We are thrilled to be opening the doors of the University of Wonder and Imagination for enrolment.
“Now, more than ever, we want to capture the sheer joy and wonder that theatre and live performance brings young audiences, something we so desperately miss being able to provide at this time. We have worked hard to create an experience that would act as a first step to bridge the gap between young people and live theatre that can be enjoyed at home.
“Developing this production has allowed us to explore a completely new channel through which to bring magic and illusion to children and their families via digital technology. The choices our audiences make live, during the event, will shape their unique theatre experience – and that’s hugely exciting for us.
“The technology we are using for the production is intricate, but it will be seamlessly blended with physical sets and magical illusions. Our audiences haven’t seen anything like this from Cahoots NI before, and we believe it will be a fun-filled, thrilling experience for children, for their families and for our cast and crew to be a part of.”
The University of Wonder and Imagination is supported by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland.
Caoileann Curry-Thompson, Arts Development Officer for Drama and Dance, Arts Council of Northern Ireland, said: “Despite the enormous challenges presented to the Arts as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, Cahoots NI continues to offer audiences world-class children’s theatre with their latest show, The University of Wonder and Imagination, this Autumn.
“This latest show promises to be a wonder to behold! The Arts Council of Northern Ireland is hugely proud to support this terrific production which will be enjoyed by many online, helping to bring great art to everyone.”
Cahoots NI is at the forefront of Northern Irish theatre and is the leading professional theatre company producing work for children. Since beginning operations in 2001, Cahoots NI has produced original, critically acclaimed work for children including Under the Hawthorn Tree, Secrets of Space, Shh! We have a Plan and has toured its work internationally including in China and the USA.
For more information about The University of Wonder and Imagination go to cahootsni.com or follow Cahoots NI on social media #UniversityofWonder #CahootsNI
To book your tickets go to bit.ly/CahootsUOWI