Shakespeare Dimensions is back! Following the success of the first episode in 2024, which invited audiences to step into the world of William Shakespeare’s ”The Tempest” through a VR experience, the project continues to explore the great playwright’s work in an expanded and participatory format.
Produced by the Craiova International Shakespeare Festival 2026, with the support of NEPI Rockcastle and hosted by Promenada Mall Craiova, Shakespeare Dimensions - Episode 2 takes place in an immersive space, designed as a holistic experience.
The video journey, created by Aural Eye Studio, begins with a surprising encounter: famous paintings inspired by ”The Tempest” by Johann Heinrich Füssli, William Hogarth, Angelica Kauffmann, Henry Singleton, George Romney, Albert Pinkham Ryder, and John William Waterhouse. Across different eras and artistic languages, each artist has captured the imagery of some of Shakespeare’s most powerful scenes: the island, the storm, Prospero’s magic, Ariel’s apparitions, Miranda’s fragility, and the tension between nature, dreams, and power. As the viewer approaches, the installation comes to life. Once close to the immersive paintings, the viewer becomes a protagonist in their own right: their movements interact with the image and alter the visual universe. On the auditory level, the experience is enhanced by the sound design created by Costas Ivanov, inspired by Jean Sibelius’s ”The Tempest” (Suites No. 1 and No. 2), where the music and the audience’s interaction influence one another.
Shakespeare Dimensions – Episode 2 thus becomes an infinite and unique performance for each participant. It is a meeting between classical art and new technologies, in which the audience member, in turn, becomes an actor in their own experience, watched by the other audience members.
