The Whale
An ecological reimagining of Moby Dick
The Whale is an ecological reimagining of Moby Dick for live audiences, that premiered at Frameless in central London as a proof-of-concept iteration.
Staged within a vast projection gallery, the work brings performers and audiences inside a shared 180° immersive visual and audio field. Moving image and spatial sound envelop physical environments and bodies, dissolving the conventional separation between stage and screen, physical and digital.
Embedded within this environment is a newly developed system of spatial creative captioning, built in collaboration with deaf, deafened and hard of hearing artists and audiences. Rather than occupying a fixed, peripheral position, captions are integrated into the projected world. Text travels across surfaces, shifts scale and tempo, and interacts with performers and sound, operating as part of the scenography and dramaturgy. Creative access informed not only how the work is received, but how it is structured and composed from the outset.
Performances are inherently relaxed, with audiences encouraged to move around the environment and performers. With a blend of innovative and established creative techniques, The Whale creates a collective experience that could be seen as a more communal form of virtual reality.
The Whale was co-created by Sharon Clark for Raucous and Jack Hardiker-Bresson for the Office of Everyone. It operates across commercial and research contexts, functioning simultaneously as performance and inquiry through partnerships with cultural and research institutions.
Creative Team
Co-Director - Sharon Clark
Co-Director - Jack Hardiker-Bresson
Creative Captioning - Ben Glover
Access Consultant - Harshadha Balasubramanian
Lead 3D Visual Artist - Riya Mahajan
VFX Supervisor - Joseph Whitmore
Creative Technologist - Rian Stephens
Spatial Sound Design - Helen Skiera
Physical Design - Shankho Chaudhuri
Lighting Design - Ryan Joseph Stafford
Musical Score - Phil Kay
Production Manager - Keegan Curran
Associate Director - Dena Davies
Production Intern - Ayla Melville
Cast
Christopher Elson
Jamar Morgan
Reece Pantry
When: Friday 6 March 2026. This show has now closed.
Where: Frameless, 6 Marble Arch, London W1H 7AP.
Supported by Immersive Arts Expand, a three year programme taking place across the UK, taking an artist-led approach to working with immersive technologies.