Imagine experiencing a timeless holiday tradition like never before—through the immersive power of virtual reality. By December 21, 2025, Ebenezer Scrooge will receive his final haunting in VR, as disembodied spirits wearing Quest 2 or newer headsets guide him through his transformation. But here’s where it gets truly groundbreaking: from then on, the first fully embodied retelling of Charles Dickens’ classic A Christmas Carol in consumer VR will be available to loop annually during the holiday season, showcasing a spatially captured performance by the innovative team at Agile Lens.
Alex Coulombe, an architect and producer involved in the project, shared in a direct message that their team recently achieved a major milestone: they developed a method to record every element of a live show perfectly. This includes motion capture, show cues, audio, and even audience movements. The entire experience can then be played back on demand, transforming a fleeting performance into a lasting digital artifact.
Since 2021, Agile Lens has been pioneering this experimental VR adaptation of A Christmas Carol, utilizing state-of-the-art capture and streaming technologies, including Unreal Engine’s MetaHuman avatars to bring characters to life. Their efforts extend beyond just this production—others include ambitious projects like a giant holodeck creating virtual real estate tours in Texas. This wealth of experience led them to develop "Stage Presence," a versatile tool designed to facilitate the creation of future theatrical productions within virtual reality environments.
Coulombe expressed that they have no plans to discontinue this VR experience anytime soon. After the extensive all-day VR replays scheduled for Christmas Eve, the experience will likely remain accessible as a sort of digital museum—perhaps letting visitors explore Dickens’s study or check the “Next Show in…” counter. Plus, there’s speculation that someday, they might bring the show out of retirement for special occasions.
Participation in the event is free, available for Quest 2 or newer VR headsets, with final live performances scheduled from Friday to Sunday. These performances feature Ari Tarr in the roles of Dickens and Scrooge, alongside Debbie Deer portraying the ghosts—both wearing Quest Pro headsets to capture face and body movements. Interestingly, during the showings, viewers will themselves become ghosts, visible to Scrooge as disembodied spirits who guide him toward self-awareness and change.
Kevin Laibson, a producer involved in the project, shared his heartfelt pride: "I’m really proud of this work. I’ll miss it a lot. It’s been such a joyful and valuable experience to revisit. You can’t really mess up a Christmas Carol—it’s a story everyone knows and loves."
Looking ahead, Coulombe mentioned the possibility of scheduling shared VR replays on select dates next year, where the audience of live and virtual participants will coexist—some as ghosts from the past, others as present-day viewers—creating a layered, meta-theatrical experience.
The team at Agile Lens and others are eager to see how VR theater evolves, especially with tools like Stage Presence. While experiences like The Under Presents and The Tempest have showcased the potential of VR in theatrical storytelling, none have yet provided continuous employment opportunities for actors in this space. Coulombe pointed out that "VR live theatre is wonderful for accessibility, but it still doesn’t fully capture the magic of being with other people—gasping and laughing together in the same space."
Ultimately, their vision is to blend mixed reality with VR to create hybrid productions that can serve on-site audiences while inviting viewers from across the globe to participate. The goal of Stage Presence is to develop a modular toolkit capable of supporting a wide array of live extended reality (XR) performances. So, the question remains: as VR theater advances, will it ever replace the authentic human connection of a live performance, or is that something only physical proximity can truly offer? Share your thoughts and join the conversation.
