International Theatre Conference: Directing and Authorship in Western Drama

Panel Six
Saturday October 25th,11-12:45pm

Dr. Gerhardt Hauck, U of Waterloo
Abstract: Digital Directions: (Re-)defining the Role of the Director
in Multi-Point Videoconferenced Collaborative Theatre

The increasing ubiquity of new media and digital technologies in all areas of life has brought with it many unprecedented opportunities and challenges. In the art of theatre, too, the impact of the new media and technologies has been colossal, and we can be reasonably confident that it will continue to be so for a long time because theatre artists have always readily embraced the latest technologies. At present, however, the effects of the new media and digital technologies on theatrical practice, as well as their range of opportunities and limitations, are not yet fully understood by theatre artists and scholars alike. While tentative steps are being taken by both groups into the various directions opened up by the new media and digital technologies, with interactive performances on the web, for example, such as Herbert Fritsch's Hamlet_X project (in which Shakespeare's linear text is reconfigured into a hypertext) or Yannick Bressan's Le martyre (which was performed live on the web with rudimentary interactive capabilities for spectators), the chasm created by the varying speeds with which technological advancements are made, on the one hand, and theatre artists are able or willing to assimilate them, on the other, threatens to widen.

The paper I am submitting for consideration represents one facet of a long-term research project I am conducting on the way in which multi-point videoconferencing technology can be employed in all aspects of collaborative theatre with up to ten individuals or groups of participants in remote locations. While the principal purpose of this research is to investigate the various performance applications (and shortcomings) of videoconferencing technology (including the possibility of live web broadcasts with actors in different locations), I wish to focus my attention in this paper on the manner in which this technology has affected the role of the director. Some of the questions I will be addressing are:

" How conversant in the new media and digital technologies must a director be in order to make the most optimal use of them?
" How will this affect the training of aspiring directors?
" What directorial benefits can be derived from the employment of videoconferencing technology?
" How does the interactive nature of videoconferencing technology affect the manner in which a director must be able to work with actors, especially in collaborative creations?
" What effect, if any, does the anticipated placement of a performance in virtual space, with audiences in remote locations, have on a director's work and the audience's theatrical experience?

These questions will be refined as my research with multi-point videoconferenced theatre continues throughout the summer.