Alchemy in the screen space: ritual performance through virtual production in Black Wasteland

This article presents a practice-based, single-case study of Black Wasteland, a four-day virtual production (VP) and extended reality (XR) residency on Southampton Solent University’s LED VP/XR stage. Combining theatre performance with Unreal Engine scenography and in-camera visual effects, the project examines how VP shapes creative decision-making, collaboration and symbolic scenography in live contexts, and how short residencies can operate as modular research and development (R&D) and knowledge exchange (KE) units. A qualitative, multi-source design incorporated a pre-project survey, a mid-residency reflective prompt and post-event interviews with the two lead creatives. Reflexive thematic analysis identified four contributions. Collaboration emerged as co-productive, with flexible roles supported by boundary artefacts such as shot lists, cue and lighting notes and monitor-side reviews. Constraints acted as creative levers: limited time and system maturity prompted a plates-first workflow and dual-camera strategy balancing theatrical breadth with cinematic intimacy. The residency demonstrated how symbolic materials, calibrated imagery and performer movement can cohere into a unified VP scenography, while functioning as a learning ecology translating mentoring and visual iteration into transferable capability. The study is framed as an exploratory, practice-based pilot designed for analytic generalisation and methodological illustration rather than statistical generalisation.