A Vision Rooted in Ecological Storytelling

ECOL is a love letter to the natural world, its complexity, vulnerability, and power. In an age of ecological crisis, the project invites children and their families to connect with the environment in a way that is sensorial and imaginative. By giving nature agency as a lead character, the piece cultivates empathy, dialogue, and reflection.

It is both a celebration and a call to action: to care, to dream, and to reimagine our relationship with the living world, and places the forest as a central character. This natural world evolves over time through reactive weather systems and atmospheric transitions, using real-time 3D design and spatial storytelling to capture the emotional arc of a live performance. The immersive forest acts not just as backdrop, but as an active storytelling device, a sensory-led space that prompts ecological awareness, emotional connection, and shared wonder.

A Forest That Tells Its Own Story

At the heart of ECOL is a living, breathing forest, an expansive 3D environment where shifting weather systems transform the mountainous terrain, revealing moments of drama, renewal, and wonder. From torrential downpours to radiant starlit skies, the forest becomes the central character, moving audiences through cycles of intensity and calm, destruction and regrowth. This immersive world is not simply a setting; it speaks, transforms, and responds, inviting children and families to reimagine the natural world through sound, movement, and story.

Built in Unreal Engine, the environment forms the visual foundation for a future immersive opera, intended as a live, location-based experience for children and their grown-ups. The focus for this prototype was to develop the creative and technical language of the world: to establish visual tone, spatial rhythm, and how nature-driven cues (wind, storms, starlight) could drive narrative form.

As immersive designers and real time developers, SUUM Studio led on world-building, spatial design and the technical R&D of the environment. Our work included:

• Designing a stylised, responsive forest that evolves through environmental change

• Building weather systems (rain, wind, fog, clear skies) to define narrative tension and relief

• Developing dynamic lighting systems to support day-to-night transitions and emotional beats

• Creating interaction logic and projection design pathways for future implementation

• Prototyping a visual environment to complement Stephen Deazley’s musical composition and structure

A Collaborative Approach to Opera in the Age of Immersion

ECOL is a co-creation between composer Stephen Deazley, SUUM Studio, sound designer David Donaldson and early years arts organisation Starcatchers. This proof-of-concept marks the first phase of a long-term ambition: to create a fully immersive performance-installation that blends high-fidelity visual environments with rich musical narratives.

Stephen Deazley is an award-winning composer known for his socially engaged approach and his long-standing commitment to creating high-quality musical work for young audiences. His cross-disciplinary collaborations have included opera, theatre, outdoor arts and community commissions. 

Starcatchers, Scotland’s national organisation for early years arts, brings best practice for engaging very young children in live arts experiences to this work. Their partnership ensures that creative quality is matched by developmental understanding, ensuring the work resonates across generations.