After an overview of the use of digital shadows in computing science research projects with cultural and social impacts and a focus on recent researches and insights on virtual theaters, this paper introduces a research mixing the manipulation of shadow avatars and the building of a virtual theater setup inspired by traditional shadow theater (or "castelet" in french) in a mixed reality environment. It describes the virtual 3D setup, the nature of the shadow avatars and the issues of directing believable interactions between virtual avatars and physical performers on stage. Two modalities of shadow avatars direction are exposed. Some results of the research are illustrated in two use cases: the development of theatrical creativity in mixed reality through pedagogical workshops; and an artistic achievement in The Shadow performance, after H. C. Andersen.

In this article, the authors share their experience of making a creation-as-research, The Wizard Without Shadow, in order to bring to light the different steps of staging, the difficulties, and methods that could be applied. This research is based on empirical and analytical methods and aims for a better understanding of the pipeline of a theatrical staging with motion capture, as well as exploration of the nature, limits, and potential of a pre-recorded live-controlled virtual performance. This paper is an extension of The Wizard Without Shadow paper previously published in the ARTECH21 conference.

This paper introduces a new method to achieve remote distributed performances using a virtual shadow theater and real time motion capture. It was used during the lockdowns in France in 2021 to reach remote scholar audiences with The Wizard without Shadow performance. After a review of remote distributed virtual experiments in performing arts, the paper details the creation-asresearch process that leads to two versions of the same story. It shows how the quality of the theatrical bond between the actor and the audience of the first face-to-face version is maintained in the second remote version combining a video conference platform and live motion capture in a video game engine to bring actors performances to two remote distributed audiences. CCS CONCEPTS• Human-centered-computing → Interaction design → Empirical studies in interaction design • Computer systems organization → Real-time systems → Real time system architecture • Applied computing→ Arts and humanities→ performing arts • Computing methodologies → Computer graphics → Animation → Motion capture

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