Shakespeare, Second Life: Though hinted at on more than one occasion,Ina Centaur yesterday officially announced the SL ShakespeareCompany's SOS "Save Our Sims" Fundraising Campaign—its purpose,according to Centaur, is to meet "a modest though desperately neededsum to pay land tier fees to Linden Lab." Through funding frommicroeconomics a la a grid-wide network of donation kiosks, the "SOS"campaign goal is to meet L$1.5 million by January 21, 2009, which atthe current LindeX rate for selling would translate to about USD$5300,meeting six month's tier for three of the island sims that host the SLGlobe Theatre venue and similarly daring literary and artisticprojects. Centaur plans to fund the fourth sim through her ownendeavors, to keep the SL Globe Theatre four sims in size, as well asto continue existing endeavors on the sims in trying to make theenterprise self-sufficient.At high noon on November 21st, Ina Centaur, Artistic Director of theSL Shakespeare Company, greeted a small crowd of fans and supportersat the SL Globe Theatre before launching a speech that revealed thefunding state of the Company, as well as some unexpected humanitarianresults of their endeavors. The Company's performances have reachedboth those in rural areas and also low-income urban districts,introducing many to the culture of theatre and Shakespeareanperformances. Centaur summarized with the words, "Perhaps the greatestthing that has evolved from our endeavors is that it has become atruly humanitarian cause that we are fighting for—to bring theatre tothe farthest reaches of the world, to give Shakespeare to those whowould not have had the chance to experience his words in the live andintimate form they were written for, to use this nascent medium tobring the most quintessential culture to the metaverse and beyond."Various donation kiosks are available for those who wish to help theSL Shakespeare Company in their campaign. Supporters may drop by theSL Globe Theatre or the Campaign headquarters, directly to obtaincopies of kiosks. The Campaign website contains up-to-the-second statsand other information, as well as links to the inworld Campaignheadquarter to obtain kiosks http://campaign.SLshakespeare.comCentaur explained that a 4-sim venue is a necessity for their shows,"To make sure all can attend, and to minimize the lag." In addition,the sims listed on the main SOS banners—sLiterary, Shakespeare, andPrimtings—also support several other notable literary and artisticprojects. Centaur stated the best way to find out about each is tospend some time exploring the sims, or to visit their campaign websiteabove for brief summaries.Although many may consider Centaur's activites to be merely great art,after mentioning a few examples of lives their endeavors have touched,she summarized their goal as of a greater significance, "Our goal isto create good within Second Life for the world to thrive from—becauseit is possible. We have been doing it, and we want to continue doingit, but we won't be able to if we become homeless—we would haveneither the energy or the base to go from."Centaur concluded the session with the haunting words, "You are ourlast hope. If you can't help us, then I'm afraid to say we are trulylost."
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