National Theatre creates virtual reality studio for new projects

NT hopes new technology and immersive filming styles will become "a pioneer of dramatic storytelling"

Anyone visiting the new National Theatre studio might experience the soul-destroying misery of the Calais jungle, take part in the 1916 Easter Rising or sit on a toilet while being serenaded by a giant psychedelic cat.

The theatre launched its immersive storytelling studio, a place where new work will be developed using the latest virtual reality technologies, on Tuesday. The studio is the next step in a journey that began in March last year, when the theatre's then recently appointed director Rufus Norris, a VR enthusiast, commissioned "fabulous wonder.land", a virtual reality film based on the Damon Albarn-scored wonder.land musical.