Over Coffee® is on holiday hiatus. Please enjoy this reposting of one of our top episodes of 2023!

With virtual reality, Los Angeles-based Ferryman Collective offers a new approach to storytelling.

While they’re technically a group of theatre professionals who create their live performance experiences in virtual reality, the actual experience goes far beyond that description.

When you sign up for one of their experiences, you have been “cast”, as part of the story.

And for audience members, the performance can go far beyond simply experiencing great storytelling in 360. Some viewers say these experiences have changed their lives!

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.

We had the pleasure of experiencing both their 2022 multiple award-winning live show, Gumball Dreams, and The Severance Theory: Welcome to Respite, earlier this year. Both incredible experiences, yet very different–however, the common denominator was audience interactivity.

Ferryman Collective’s most recent show, “Find WiiLii”, Episode 1, had its world premiere at SXSW 2023.

And with 2024 just a matter of weeks away, here’s where to subscribe to their newsletter, to see what’s next!

Deirdre and Steve 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 happens 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!