A Midsummer Night's Dream may be one of Shakespeare's most performed play—but its latest version from the Royal Shakespeare Company will be unlike any seen before. Titled Dream，the 50-minute online production combines live performance with motion-capture （动作捕捉） technology，3 D graphics，and interactive gaming techniques that let audiences remotely guide the leading character Puck through a virtual forest.
As live theater put some seriously high-tech fairy （小精灵） factors into practice，Dream promises to bring the rarest version of the play to our screens. In 2016，the theater's production of The Tempest used live motion-capture technology to create a 3 D digital image that was projected above the stage. The difference this time is that everything in the play—the performers and their surroundings—will be shown virtually.
Seven actors will perform in a specially-built studio in Portsmouth，southern England，wearing motion-capture suits. They will be surrounded by a 360-degree camera set，made up of 47 cameras with every movement almost immediately presented digitally，which is presented to viewers online. With its much-reduced characters，Dream is not a complete production of A Midsummer Night's Dream；rather，it is a story inspired by it，focusing on Puck and the fairies.
Up to 2，000 audience members for each performance can become part of the show and will be invited to guide Puck through the forest. Onscreen，the chosen audience will appear as a cloud of tiny fireflies （萤火虫）. By using their mouse or finger on the screen of a smart device，they will be able to move their firefly across the screen，and Puck will be at their beck and call to go through the virtual space. For viewers watching at home，the virtual fairies moving through a digital forest will look more like a video game than the average Royal Shakespeare Company show. But the performances are delivered live and in real time. Every night's performance will be unique.
"Without the fireflies—the audiences—Puck wouldn't be going anywhere，" said E. M. Williams who plays the role. "The audiences are very much the fuel and the energy of the show. "
