The Ghostly Feather: Augmented Reality Adventure September 26 – 28 & October 10 – 12
The Ghostly Feather is an augmented reality, live performance, which allows audience participation to resolve their dilemma. Written, produced, and performed by Texas A&M College Station faculty and students, the performance is a blend of escape room excitement, folklore and storytelling, early 20th century fads and supernatural scares.
Performances are every 40 minutes with limited seating available – 6 participants per performance. Participants are issued augmented reality headsets for the experience. Headsets are difficult if wearing glasses. Tickets are $30 per person – museum admission required – (Must be at least 16 years old).
Additional programming in the auditorium includes presentations and related films on the train crashing phenomenon. There is not a fee to attend the presentations – it is included in museum admission – and is a worthy activity for those accompanying participants of the Ghostly Feather Augmented Reality program.
The story: The Choque family business has been highly successful for decades but has hit a slump in the last year. After the death of the matriarch, the son has invested everything into “train crashing”, a highly lucrative form of entertainment, but against the wishes of his sister.
Set in the early 20th century, audience members play the part of potential investors, who are traveling in the family’s personal train to view the crash event. The train is filled with the memorabilia of the family’s entertainment business and the stars whose careers they launched. The audience begins to uncover darker stories, and the arrival of supernatural elements with roots in local folklore puts everyone in danger. You must discover the truth to escape the train! Augmented Reality characters, objects and audio soundscapes create a spectacular and thought-provoking experience.
Meet the Characters:
Ghosts
- Lydia Zeledon; Rising Tejano music star
- Siegmund Adler, the Wrestler
- Nefru the Desert Oracle, the Radio Psychic
- Glynda Broadwick, the Barnstormer
Live Performers:
- Alex Choque, the family’s son
- Dolores Choque, the family’s daughter
- Dario, the train conductor
You do not want to miss this unique experience. Additional activities planned around the experience for those not on the trains include speakers and ghost tours. Media tours are available. Check schedule for performance and presentations times. Reservations are required for The Ghostly Feather. Due to limited space, tickets are Non Refundable. Standby reservations will be taken at the event each day – you must be in attendance to be on the standby roster. There is no guarantee standby will be called to participate.
Disclaimer: Individuals with certain medical conditions and those prone to motion sickness or seizures should be cautious or avoid using augmented reality.
Presentations: (CLICK HERE FOR SCHEDULE)
- Radical Rails: Turn of the Century Demolition Derbies (Train Crashing) – Dr. Matthew Campbell
- Cry of the Owl: La Lechuza, Witchcraft and Border Love – Dr. Matthew Campbell •
- The Making of The Ghostly Feather: Bringing Folklore, Theater and Technology Together – Anne Quackenbush & Dr. Edgar Rojas-Munoz
- Galveston’s Haunted Hotels – Kathleen Maca
The Ghostly Feather Augmented Reality Tickets – $30 each. Must be 16 years old to participate.
Museum Admission Required. Buy online: www.galvestonRRmuseum.org (409 765-5700 Speaker Presentations and film in the auditorium are free with museum admission.
Haunted Strand and Railyard Tours will be offered by Kathleen Maca at the end of the day by Reservation Only. For information and tickets: www.kathleenmaca.com
Texas A&M student Rochelle Lopez as La Lechuza
(left to right) Texas A&M students AJ Villarreal, Desiree Comacho and Colton Neuville perform alongside an audience member wearing augmented reality (AR) headset.)
Step into a world where Texan folklore comes alive… “The Ghostly Feather”
An augmented reality, immersive live performance slated for the fall of 2025 Created by Texas A&M faculty and students, hosted by the Galveston Railroad Museum The show is just the beginning – dive deeper with engaging lectures, captivating media, and historic displays covering fascinating topics like the phenomenon of train-crashing, Tejano folklore, Galveston history, and more!
Cutting-edge technology and captivating storytelling
Cutting-edge technology meets captivating storytelling
Together, augmented reality (AR) effects and live performers tell a story that comes to life and offers the audience dynamic choices that lead to exciting alternate endings. The audience members become active participants in the unfolding narrative.
Audience members move through the train cars and experience a live performance integrated with AR characters and props, audio soundscapes, and special effects. The performance will include innovative aspects of an escape room, murder mystery and scavenger hunt, with supernatural elements and ghostly tales.
Created by faculty of Texas A&M College of Performance, Visualization and Fine Arts, the performance is shaped by the work of both graduate and undergraduate students. Student contributions include AR development, costume/prop design and construction, sound design and devised performance.
The innovative blend of technology and human artistry creates an immersive experience where each viewer is an active participant in the unfolding narrative. Augmented reality enriches the visual and aural landscape of a performance. It enables seamless transitions between scenes, adaptive narratives, and real-time audience participation and engagement through immersive visuals and spatial computing. As the live show progresses, the audience’s decisions influence the live characters’ paths, making every performance unique and unpredictable. This interactivity not only captivates the imagination but also fosters a deeper connection between the performers and the audience, as they navigate the story’s twists and turns together. The result is a mesmerizing supernatural spectacle that leaves the participants examining the different possibilities and outcomes they witnessed or might have changed.
USE OF AUGMENTED REALITY WITH LIVE THEATRE
Digital overlays bring characters, settings, and special effects to life in real time, deepening emotional engagement and expanding storytelling possibilities beyond physical constraints. For creators, augmented reality (AR) unlocks unprecedented creative freedom, enabling seamless world-building without the logistical limits of set design. For audiences, it offers deeper engagement, dynamic storytelling, and the ability to interact with narratives in ways never before possible.
From a technical perspective, AR creates a seamless integration between the virtual and the physical world. It enables the real-time visualization of interactive graphics, directly overlaid onto the audience’s field of view. Through various sensors and tracking routines, AR
synchronizes virtual imagery with the environment and live performers, strengthening the feeling of immersion and inviting audiences to engage with the performance in newer, more creative approaches. This fusion of live performance and AR is set to redefine entertainment, blurring the line between the real and the imagined.
LA LECHUZA/LOCAL FOLKLORE
La Lechuza is a chilling figure in Mexican and Texan folklore, described as a massive owl with the face of a woman. Rooted in oral tradition, the legend varies by region but commonly depicts her as a witch who has transformed into an enormous bird as a means of enacting vengeance. Others say she is an omen—her eerie cries foretelling misfortune or death. La Lechuza is drawn to evil deeds and punishes people who have done wrong. Legends tell of people who ignored her warning and vanished without a trace. Beware—when La Lechuza calls, it may already be too late!
Stories of encounters with La Lechuza persist in contemporary narratives, particularly in rural communities, where unexplained phenomena are still attributed to her presence. As with many folkloric entities, La Lechuza reflects broader cultural themes, including the fear of the unknown, the consequences of wrongdoing, and the enduring power of ancestral storytelling. Her legend continues to evolve, influenced by modern interpretations and the persistence of oral tradition in shaping regional supernatural beliefs.
The inclusion of the character of La Lechuza in this theatrical event underscores the spooky season in Galveston and is a part of Texas A&M’s Lorefest 2025, a multidisciplinary event featuring students and faculty across the Texas A&M College of Performance, Visualization and Fine Arts. Lorefest includes several nights of spooky folklore, films, performances, games, cuisine and research presentations in downtown Bryan.
TRAIN CRASHING
In the early 20th century, the deliberate staging of train collisions emerged as a popular form of public spectacle in the United States. Organized primarily by promoters and county fair organizers, these events drew thousands of spectators who gathered to witness the dramatic destruction of full-sized locomotives.
Typically, two decommissioned trains were placed on a single track and set on a collision course, often with significant fanfare, including live music, advertising, and concession stands. The locomotives were sometimes painted and given names to heighten the theatricality of the event. Upon impact, the resulting explosion of steam, metal, and debris provided a visceral display of industrial power and destruction. Flying debris from the impact zone could reach the audience, sometimes causing serious injuries or fatalities.
Photographers documented the wreckage, and newspapers widely covered the events, contributing to their popularity. Engineers fine-tuned the collisions for maximum destruction, ensuring a grander show each time. But as safety concerns grew and the cost of sacrificing locomotives skyrocketed, the era of train crashes came to an end.
CREDITS
The Ghostly Feather is a multi-disciplinary project developed by faculty in the College of Performance, Visualization & Fine Arts of Texas A&M University
Dr. Edgar J. Rojas Muñoz
Assistant Professor of Visual Computing and Computational Media
Dr. Matthew Alan Campbell
Lecturer and Assistant Program Director of Performance Studies
Prof. Anne Quackenbush
Assistant Professor of Practice in Dance, Music, and Theatre Performance Emily Bujnoch
Instructional Assistant Professor of Technical Arts and Interactive Media
Additional faculty from Texas A&M include:
Jeeeun Kim, Assistant Professor in the Computer Science and Engineering Department Jason Harris, Instructional Associate Professor in the English Department
Outside contributions from:
Leonardo Cordero, costume design
