Technically, Ferryman Collective are a group of pioneering theater professionals.

Their specialty: creating live experiences in virtual reality.

But that answer barely begins to describe their work.

Imagine sitting in your living room–and talking with a wise elder of a foreign planet as he shares his life lessons and sends you on a quest through a fantastical world.

Alternately, imagine this scenario: you’re seven years old, interacting with your parents–and things are happening around you that you don’t understand or can’t quite recall.

And both experiences are happening in real time, for a small audience that could be participating from all over the world.

These are the scenarios of Ferryman Collective’s multiple award-winning shows Gumball Dreams and The Severance Theory: Welcome to Respite, respectively. And where Gumball Dreams is playful and profound, Welcome to Respite is moving, empathetic and can be a little unsettling for some audience members.

New avenues for storytelling

Both, however, have garnered numerous accolades since Ferryman Collective was founded in 2020.

Performers and producers Deirdre V. Lyons and Stephen Butchko are the co-founders of Los Angeles-based Ferryman Collective. They’re also a husband-and-wife creative team.

Ferryman Collective, they explain, grew out of the experience of isolation during the pandemic, where they and their colleagues had to explore new ways of storytelling. With some previous experience performing in virtual reality, Deirdre and Steve embarked on their new venture.

Ever since, their shows have been garnering awards and rave reviews.

The shows

Gumball Dreams is currently a nominee for an Auggie Award at AWE USA 2023, which happens this May 31st through June 2nd. Among its other honors is the “Best Immersive Performance” award at London’s Raindance International Film Festival.

Welcome to Respite, meanwhile, includes XR Must’s “Best Live Experience” award among its numerous accolades.

Perhaps the best accolades, though? The responses from some audience members who’ve been inspired to pursue their dreams or re-evaluate what’s happened in their lives.

And Deirdre and Steve are currently involved in additional exciting live projects about which they can’t disclose many details–yet. But we’ll look forward to hearing more!

Meanwhile, they shared the story of Ferryman Collective, some insights into the creative process in virtual reality, and some of the ways their audiences have re-evaluated their lives after experiencing their shows.

On this edition of Over Coffee® we cover:

• How Deirdre and Steve each discovered their passion for storytelling through their performance skills;

• Their first experiences, performing in virtual reality;

• How their involvement in immersive theater grew, from there;

• What was involved in the first shows they created in VR, as Ferryman Collective;

• Their best “creative-growth” experiences;

• Some of the ways they’ve seen audience members inspired by their shows;

• How one of the shows they created provided a “spark” for another performance troupe to develop their own immersive performance;

• The story of Gumball Dreams;

• Some of their “backstage” experiences with this live show;

• What it’s like behind the scenes as the show is happening, and some of the creative lessons they’ve learned;

• What audience members can expect, when experiencing Gumball Dreams;

• A closer look at what’s happening in The Severance Theory: Welcome to Respite

• Upcoming projects for Ferryman Collective;

• How you can support them, as they continue their imaginative and inspiring work!

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