The Demo Event at Krannert Center February 28, 2014

MIKEL ROUSE, CO-CREATOR, COMPOSER, AND PERFORMER

BEN NEILL, CO-CREATOR, COMPOSER, AND PERFORMER

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2014, AT 7:30PM | COLWELL PLAYHOUSE

Mikel Rouse and Ben Neill will present a work-in-progress performance/demonstration of their upcoming hybrid piece The Demo. Joining Rouse and Neill will be the creative team of Jeff Sugg, Jim Findley, Matthew Gandolfo and Bob McGrath.
Long before the giants of the personal computer era emerged in the mainstream, the humble computer mouse and the very foundation of computing as we know it quietly took center stage on December 9, 1968. That was the day when Douglas C. Engelbart and his fellow researchers at the Augmentation Research Center at Stanford Research Institute in Menlo Park, California, presented a live demonstration of a phenomenal NLS (oN Line System), as well as the mouse, hypertext, dynamic file linking, shared-screen collaboration, and other interfacing applications that have ultimately shaped our complex sphere of modern technology. This “mother of all demos” was filmed, and the 90-minute video is now part of the Engelbart Collection at Stanford University.

Innovative composer and genre-bending performer Mikel Rouse, recently named the University of Illinois’ eDream (Emerging Digital Research and Education in Arts Media) Institute’s first-ever visiting research artist, is now delving into the lineage of that demonstration and how the technologies and industry figures featured unquestionably changed the world. Together with eDream and Krannert Center, Rouse and his creative colleagues harness today’s latest digital media technology in the creation of a dynamic, new, hybrid theatre form.

Following the performance of The Demo, stay in the theatre for a Talkback hosted by Mike Ross and then join the production team and performers for a reception at Stage 5.

For more info, click here: Krannert Center: The Demo Event