The National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) Future Centre has announced the recipients of NIDA X 2025 – a program supporting NIDA alumni in developing bold and experimental live entertainment experiences.
This year’s submissions presented an amazing array of bold ideas and executions, ranging from XR narratives and immersive sound experiences to AI-driven audience dreamscape worlds and holographic characters. Following a competitive selection process, the four alumni-led projects selected have each been awarded development funding, mentored support and access to equipment and facilities at NIDA.
“The 2025 NIDA X recipients capture the fearless, experimental spirit at the heart of the NIDA Future Centre,” says Head of NIDA Future Centre, Beth Shulman. “These projects demonstrate how technology can open up new kinds of stories, and new ways of telling them, in powerful and unexpected ways. With the support of the Girgensohn Foundation, we’re excited to work alongside our visionary alumni as they create tomorrow’s experiences, today.”
NIDA X is a program supported by NIDA X Patrons the Girgensohn Foundation to seed new projects that harness technology to reimagine the future of storytelling. NIDA X is one of the programs of NIDA’s Future Centre, NIDA’s R&D innovation lab, dedicated to experimentation and future thinking, propelling the dramatic arts into a robust and positive future.
The four funded projects include:
Dream Sequence:
An immersive, AI-powered installation where participants speak fragments of their dreams, which are instantly transformed into stylised visual sequences. These are projected in a darkened space, forming a communal dreamscape that blends machine interpretation with human imagination. Team: Thomas De Angelis (Writing for Performance, 2016), Sarah Hadley (Directing, 2018), Ang Collins (Writing for Performance, 2018), Clemence Williams (Directing, 2016), Sam Boneham and Isabella Debbage.
Drau ni Uto Hotel:
A contemporary song cycle blending XR and live performance to explore digital colonialism in Fiji. Set in a speculative universe, the story follows Kali, a young woman trapped in a virtual resort simulation, whose voice becomes the key to reclaiming her body and land. Team: Emele Ugavule (Acting, 2014), Reuben Nicolas, Deanna Maladina, Fanni Fanzakas and Ephraim Frame
Vital Signs:
A solo performance using live medical equipment and projection technology to explore how Black, larger bodies are medicalised and made invisible. The work turns the body into both stage and storyteller, reclaiming autonomy and joy through immersive tech and personal narrative. This is the second development for this project. Team: Angela Sullen (Acting, 2016 and Voice, 2020) and Dino Dimitriadis
Specific Affect:
A live performance and emotional experiment inspired by psychologist Dr. John Gottman’s research into micro-expressions. Blending dance, live cinema, and technology, two performers film and respond to each other in real time, exploring the emotional choreography of conflict and intimacy. Team: Claudia Osborne (Directing, 2019), Solomon Thomas
Under the mentorship of leading industry professionals, including creative and strategic consultant Tea Uglow, Drew Ferors from the Technical Directing Company, and Mark Grentell and Rick Pearce from Whataday Studios, these projects will culminate in a public showcase event at NIDA in early 2026.
For more information about NIDA X, visit: www.nida.edu.au for details.
Image: Small Blue Thing – Shakira Clanton in partnership with Box of Birds (2024 NIDA X Recipient)