Hearts of Oak: Historic Dockyards Chatham
Hearts of Oak is the new digital theatre installation, presented across 11 scenes in and around the Historic Dockyard Buildings in Chatham, England, the workshop for the British naval fleet for 300 years.
Visitors now engage in a 30 minute scripted storyline where they follow actual historic characters, such as retired shipwright John North, as he explores the dockyards and the process of warship design and build with his grandson. Projected at 1:1 scale they encounter a range of dockyard workers, graphically augmented setworks, the Mould Loft where ships such as HMS Victory were drawn out on the timber floor and even a fully fledged battle sequence.
Across the tour our characters explain the science of ship design and the tactics used in battle.
The actors, graphics, animations and archival images are all video mapped onto the original building’s features and period recreation setworks. Layered multiple projection HD sequences are synced with a 3D sound and media playback system that allows for multilingual audio and graphic text layers to be switched on demand.
The combination of high end media embedded in the rich theatrical setting creates a new interpretive dimension that brings the story of people, ships and processes to life in a vivid, engaging and memorable way.