The first thing that captivated me in Ragnar di Marzo’s grand project, Echoes of Morantia, was an image I recognized as a variation of Böcklin’s famous painting Toteninsel — a motif that has fascinated so many viewers for nearly 150 years, myself included. It became my entry point into that dreamlike, mysterious, and existentially charged world — the winding adventure that a number of player characters are invited to step into.

Are they their characters, or are they actors performing parts assigned to them in a script they’ve just received? We don’t know. The starting point is, in any case, a theatre — at the intersection of illusion and reality — a point at which I’ve always thrived, both as a person and as an actor.

The script, Ragnar’s script, was developed in dialogue with an AI program. That alone could be a reason to join the project — to confront my own scepticism, and perhaps fear, of a development that seems to be running amok, full of both promise and peril. A way of facing the bull by the horns, so to speak.

Likewise, the VR world is largely unknown territory for me, and it feels incredibly exciting to step into it and see what it does to me as an actor. Echoes of Morantia offers a suggestive visual experience — and to inhabit it in a true ensemble drama is something I very much look forward to.

More of Henrik’s world, on his homepage.