A round of applause for this year’s graduates.
To keep their students, staff and the theatre community safe, Boston University’s School of Theatre, within the College of Fine Arts, had to shelve their traditional graduate showcase.
Like many other dramatic arts schools across the USA, they instead sought a meaningful way to connect their graduates with the industry, a rite-of-passage for every creative as they embark on their career.
The School of Theatre sought us out to digitally showcase their students and foster an intimacy with the showcase audience: agents, producers, peers and more.
However, to digitally re-create a stage – the go-to for many other colleges – felt tacky, overdone and lacking any unique spark of connection.
Instead, we created a hub, designed to rouse curiosity and exploration. The Performance and Craft showreels are adorned by stacks for each discipline, within which the user can explore the degree’s graduating class.
The user enters a stack to find a wheel of students. While organised alphabetically, the randomised entry into each wheel ensures every student gets a fair moment in the spotlight.
Dynamic video portraits bring a touch of presence to the showcase of their bio and works. They’re accompanied by a reaction of gratitude whenever the user offers an applause or positive comment.
Talent scouts, producers and agents can create a list of their favourites, leave their details or even book a video call to meet their prospective new recruits.
And, to add a sense of shared experience lost from not visiting the theatre itself, users can see the cursors of fellow visitors as they browse the hub.
While it will never replace the ritual of a physical showcase, we hope we were able to delight the graduates and their industry peers with a touch of magic – and exposure to a whole world of industry eyes.