FLOAT

A NEW IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCE

Conceived and Written by Eric Rose

“A few summers ago, while vacationing at a cottage in Quebec, I found myself on a rainbow bacon floaty in the middle of a lake. While I drifted, turning in the current, I closed my eyes and could hear my wife and two children's voices laughing, swimming, splashing, and jumping off the nearby dock mingled with the haunting call of a loon. I could hear from a distance a conversation of a young couple mixed with the close-up sound of water lapping against my bacon floaty.  The longer I allowed myself to float down the lake freely, the more meditative the experience became.  The experience reminded me of the lazy summer days I have spent with friends and family, engaging in the long-held Calgary tradition of floating down the Bow and Elbow Rivers.  As I floated, I conceptualized a new immersive audio experience, FLOAT, for a blindfolded audience lying in a theatre on various floaties drifting along a river of sound.

I imagine the sound journey of FLOAT starting in a hyper-realistic context of floating down the Bow River and then, perhaps, seamlessly drifting into a shopping mall, a Pow-Wow Round Dance, a corporate boardroom, an ice-cream shop, etc... and everywhere the audience floats you hear fragments - of conversations, music, laughter, warnings, secrets - subtly accumulating the feeling of what it means to be alive right now, with all its contradictions, beauty, longing, worry, restlessness, politics, and mundanity.”

Eric Rose

ABOUT

FLOAT will build on Eric Rose’s body of work as a creator of sensory experiences for blindfolded audiences. These experiences allow audiences to participate in the creative process by imagining the story's visuals inspired by the meticulously crafted sound design, field recordings, musical score, interviews and recorded dialogue.

The first phase of development for FLOAT, completed over the summer of 2025, involved extensive research and consultation, and the creation of a comprehensive sound library working with sound designer Anton deGroot and the project’s co-creators. Together, they mapped out the key fragments that will form the foundation of the overall structure of the FLOAT experience, ensuring a rich and diverse soundscape for the audience.

Ultimately, FLOAT will offer an auditory odyssey that captures the essence of living in Calgary at the present moment. FLOAT will create a shared experience that transcends individual boundaries and fosters a sense of collective belonging.

Listen to Walked up the River written by Kris Demeanor and Eric Rose, for a taste of the FLOAT experience!

Read Eric’s behind-the-scenes blog post sharing his insights about creating FLOAT (December 2025):

GET INVOLVED!

The seeds of FLOAT have been planted with a generous commission by a private donor but we need your support to continue its development. If you are interested in supporting the creation of FLOAT, consider making a donation to Ghost River Theatre and include FLOAT in your donation comments.