Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? brings Disguise X1 to the stage with Blue-i

For the current run of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? at London’s Soho Place, Blue-i is using Disguise X1, part of Disguise’s scalable X Series, to drive a 360-degree curved LED screen, bringing its established Disguise workflow to a production with a compact technical setup.

The production features a continuous curved LED screen of around nine metres in diameter, wrapping around the performance space and interacting with the scenic design. With a single X1 output driving the screen, Blue-i is using Disguise to map, program and previsualise content across the unusual canvas.

For Blue-i Director Ed Cooper, the project demonstrates how X1 can bring the benefits of a familiar Disguise workflow to a broader range of theatre productions.

“The Disguise workflow is the bedrock of what we do,” says Ed. “Designers want it. It’s that comfortable feeling when people are walking past video and they see it, that you’re in safe hands. People know what they’re doing. It’s a grown-up platform.”

The challenge

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is being staged at Soho Place, one of London’s newer West End theatres. The venue itself presented few major technical challenges, but the production was working to a tight setup period with significant creative ambitions.

Video is a relatively small part of the production, but the creative design called for a continuous curved LED screen that wraps around the audience. The unusual shape and resolution of the screen meant Blue-i needed a system that could handle the canvas reliably while giving the team the flexibility to program and review content efficiently.

For a 360-degree screen, checking content across the entire environment can also be difficult once the team is in the theatre. With parts of the screen always outside the operator’s immediate field of view, being able to understand how content behaves across the whole canvas before arriving on site was particularly important.

Blue-i also wanted to bring the same workflow it uses on larger productions into a technically smaller show. The introduction of monthly X1 licensing made that possible without requiring the production to commit to a larger system or annual licence.

“The monthly suddenly opens that up,” Ed explains. “The designers and tech teams get the benefit of the Disguise workflow, which is what we all want".

The solution

Blue-i is using X1 and Disguise Designer to program and drive the LED screen, giving the team a familiar environment for mapping content and building the show.

The screen’s unusual resolution was one of the key reasons Disguise was a good fit. The canvas is relatively short in height but stretches to around 4K in width, creating a format that would be difficult to treat like a conventional display.

“Disguise handles odd resolutions so much better,” says Ed. “Being able to map internally in Disguise and break it up when it goes over 4K, but stitch it together, is really key for this.”

The team is also using Disguise to help maintain a reliable signal across the screen, with Ed highlighting the absence of tearing and sync issues during the production.

Previsualisation has been another important part of the workflow. Rather than having to continually walk around the 360-degree screen to check how content looks from different positions, the team can review the environment digitally and make changes before getting into the theatre.

“Being able to see it on a click of a mouse and just dragging and dropping is really, really key for this,” says Ed. “That’s why we’re really excited to have it on this show. It’s going to be so helpful.”

The video system has been designed by Alex Ramsden for Blue-i, with video programmers Jeff Sugg and Libby Ward and video engineer Ed Dennis supporting the production.

The setup is deliberately straightforward, with Disguise handling the video workflow and providing the tools the team needs to program and manage the screen.

For Blue-i, that simplicity is a benefit in itself. The team can work within a platform they already know, with established workflows for programming, mapping and troubleshooting.

The results

For a production with a short setup period and an unconventional screen configuration, the ability to prepare and program in advance has helped Blue-i work with greater confidence before arriving at Soho Place.

The team can use Disguise to previsualise the 360-degree environment, program content and map the unusual LED canvas ahead of the live production. This reduces the amount of problem-solving that needs to happen once the team is in the theatre and gives different departments a clearer view of how the video system will behave.

Ed also sees the project as an example of how X1 can extend the established Disguise workflow into more technically compact productions.

“Despite having what many deem is more complicated software, it’s actually simpler in this format and easier and faster to use,” he says. “It’s a very short setup period, so being able to program and integrate with other departments quickly will save a lot of time.”

For Blue-i, the project also demonstrates how X1 can extend its established Disguise workflow into more technically compact productions. Rather than changing platforms as the technical requirements of a show change, teams can scale within the Disguise ecosystem while retaining the same project files, programming approach and familiar tools.

“The X1 being a monthly option opens up the smaller-scale technical shows,” says Ed. “It effectively completes our Disguise workflow; it’s solved the missing piece.”