Ferryman Collective Brings Award-Winning Immersive Show 'Uncanny Alley: A New Day' to NewImages Festival

An intimate Virtual Reality experience featuring live theatrical performances from award-winning VR companies: Ferryman Collective & Virtual Worlds Company

LOS ANGELES, CA, UNITED STATES, March 27, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Ferryman Collective and Virtual Worlds Company, are proud to announce that their latest VR theatre experience, 'Uncanny Alley: A New Day' will have its French Premiere at the prestigious NewImages Festival in Paris, France, with both English and French language performances.

'Uncanny Alley: A New Day' has garnered widespread acclaim, winning the XR Must 2024 award for Best Interactivity/Performance and earning 2nd place for Best Sound Design. It also received the Fanheart3 XR Experience award following its world premiere at the 81st Venice International Film Festival.

Featured in The Hollywood Reporter, Loud and Clear Reviews, and Mixed News, No Proscenium and Forbes, the production has been praised for its groundbreaking fusion of live performance and VR storytelling. It was included in Kent Bye’s Top 10 XR Projects at Venice and featured in a Voices of VR podcast deep dive. Additionally, XR Must published an in-depth three-part feature on the show’s innovation, and leaders in the space, like Laetitia Bochud heralded its success.

Ferryman Collective is thrilled to announce its participation in the highly esteemed NewImages Festival, presenting their newest show as part of the XR Competition program from April 9 to 13, 2025.

For the first time, Ferryman Collective is presenting live immersive theater at the NewImages Festival, a renowned international event celebrating digital and hybrid artistic innovation. "We are deeply honored and grateful for the opportunity to showcase our work at NewImages. Our hope is to continue sharing our passion for live VR theatre with audiences around the globe," expressed Stephen Butchko, Ferryman Collective’s producer and theatrical director of their newest production. "This marks our third production to be translated into another language, and we are thrilled by how this fosters a more connected world."

Ferryman Collective's dynamic team of actors, including Canadian performers Nicole Eun-Ju Bell and James Hyett, will lead the French-language performances. With their deep understanding of the show, developed through performing its English counterpart, the talented duo is set to deliver an authentic and engaging experience for French-speaking audiences. The French version of the show has been translated by James Hyett and Catherine Kuklowsky, with additional contributions by Nicole Eun-Ju Bell, Dr. Cyrielle Garson, Daniel Locicero, and Mathieu Gayet.

"The opportunity to perform Uncanny Alley: A New Day in French is a landmark moment for Ferryman Collective. It's a chance to expand our reach and bring the magic of live theater to the francophone community in Paris and beyond," said Deirdre V. Lyons, producer and assistant director.

The NewImages Festival, renowned for fostering innovative digital and hybrid art, aims to connect creators, industry professionals, and the public through its thoughtfully curated programming, the festival offers an enriching exploration of cutting-edge immersive narratives. Spanning five days, the event features a mix of competitions, exhibitions, and conferences designed to showcase the transformative power of digital creation.

As Ferryman Collective continues to make strides into the vibrant international stage, the company looks forward to engaging with the diverse audiences and professionals who contribute to the festival's dynamic creative ecosystem.

NARRATIVE SUMMARY of Uncanny Alley: A New Day
Cyberpunk hacker-whiz, Gh0st, breaks a group of protesters out of jail to lead them and her increasingly sentient Service-Bot, Atom, to safety through a hacked portal, out of the city and to a new metaverse. They must stick together, evade capture, and decide whether to leave Uncanny Alley or stay and fight for their freedom, and their home.

HOW IT WORKS
'Uncanny Alley: A New Day' is a live performance featuring two actors who seamlessly bring multiple characters to life. This immersive theater experience differentiates itself from traditional theater by removing the stage and immersing audiences within the performance itself.

"Our international cast is truly exceptional, featuring talent from film, television, gaming, and Broadway, they are some of the most experienced VR actors in the world today" informs Whitton Frank, one of the project's producers.

With the transformative power of VR technology, participants are fully immersed in our captivating 3D world.

“This is why I love developing for VR so much, where the capacity for innovation, magnitude and spectacle are bound only by the frame rates I have to optimize around,” says Christopher Lane Davis, aka Screaming Color, the music, animation and effects creator on the project.

PROJECT HISTORY
Uncanny Alley began as two award-winning virtual worlds before evolving into a theatrical show. Its creator, Rick Treweek, also known as MetaRick and praised as “one of the smartest minds in XR,” was approached by Stephen Butchko from Ferryman Collective to explore the idea of setting a live theatrical performance within the world of Uncanny Alley. However, MetaRick wanted to go further; he aimed to create a world specifically for the show, expanding the IP of his beloved characters and universe. The Ferryman team further challenged him to develop this expansive experience for standalone headsets like the Quest, which have significantly less computing power than tethered VR headsets.

“Creating a world of this scale that can be experienced on a headset that essentially functions like a mobile phone is incredibly challenging, especially after working with PC-built environments with minimal size limitations,” comments Rick Treweek, the artistic director and co-creator of Uncanny Alley: A New Day. "We approached this challenge with a spirit of innovation and determination, cracking the code to deliver a seamless, immersive experience across platforms. It was crucial to us because it’s where the future of VR—and the majority of VR actors and audiences—resides. As well as a personal technical challenge to accomplish a world at this scale in a mobile format.”

This endeavor signifies a bold step forward, showcasing how new platforms and new media like social VR can transcend traditional boundaries, bringing immersive storytelling to a broader audience.

MEDIA SHOWINGS AND INTERVIEWS
Please contact us directly for a private press showings.

An untethered Meta Quest 2, 3, 3s, Pro, or a PCVR HMD tethered to a computer is required for press showings. However, a tethered PCVR headset will allow for a better viewing experience.

Deirdre A Butchko
Ferryman Collective
info@ferrymancollective.com

Uncanny Alley: A New Day trailer