This presentation examines some of the challenges involved in translating live performance into a digital presentation. Using "The Potable Joyce" performance piece developed for the Rosenbach Museum and Library as the source, the Rosenbach and Night Kitchen Media assembled a team of writers, musicians and designers to bring the project to the screen. The live performance combines actors, music, shadow puppets and props to tell the story of The Odyssey, the first Ulysses, and the processes by which Joyce used the tale as the basis for writing his modern manuscript. Conceived by Sebastienne Mundheim, a writer and educator, the multi-layered live performance posed many challenges to create a rich, effective digital adaptation.

Beginning with a review of the original materials, from a video of the live performance to a brief discussion of the challenges posed by the source text of Joyce and Homer, we will examine the creative and practical approaches to digitizing source content and developing appropriate design aesthetics for the different levels of the live performance.

We'll move from there to a demonstration of the stages of production involved in this project, from the audio recording and image processing to the graphical treatment and animation of the content. We'll discuss the tools used, the team and their roles, as well as the overall timeline for such a project.

To finish off we will showcase a portion of the project and discuss its uses, including Web delivery, CD-ROM creation and the kiosk installation for the upcoming James Joyce special exhibition.