SWEET SORROW: ROMEO & JULIET IN VIRTUAL REALITY
Sweet Sorrow is an immersive learning experience that invites users to step into a digitally reconstructed Elizabethan playhouse and perform scenes from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Created using motion-capture technology and animated 3D models, the experience allows participants to speak lines alongside virtual actors, explore the stage space, and engage with Shakespeare’s text through embodied performance. Designed to function as a theatrical video game, Sweet Sorrow blends historical authenticity with interactive storytelling. Users choose a character, move freely through a virtual environment, and perform in key scenes—such as the iconic balcony and bedroom sequences—while text scrolls across the screen in karaoke-style prompts.
- See our Downloads page for details on downloading Sweet Sorrow (free).
- Read the dramaturgy packet developed Elizabeth Dieterich here.
- Access the Sweet Sorrow lesson plan here.
- Read Prof. Wittek’s Sweet Sorrow post-mortem interview with Jaehee Cho (Creative Director), Bokang Wang (Programmer), and Anlan Yang (Visual Designer) here.
CMU Drama students, Jonathan Champion and Cassiel Eatock-Winnik, wore motion-capture suits to record the movements for the virtual Romeo and Juliet. Here’s a side-by-side comparison that shows Jonathan and the virtual Romeo:
This video provides a two-dimensional recording of what a user sees (in 3D) during gameplay for Sweet Sorrow:
