Techne

Wherever our skunk works might be located, it’s absolutely clear that our industry needs that sort of effort… if only because every industry does. If we simply repeat, again and again, what we already know how to do, we might as well become obsolescent like cuneiform or letterpress printing, to name two other communications technologies that have long since faded from use. So who is going to step up and say, “We will make this happen, for the good of us all”—who has the courage, foresight, and willingness to do that?

Storytelling in the digital age is a complex task. On the web, we need to embrace a more interactive version of storytelling than we embrace on our stages. Consumers of content on the web create their own narratives by the click-choices they make, moving from site to site, task to task, consuming and creating alternately. They aren’t passive. Too many of our websites seem to be constructed as if we’re going to talk to people; on the web, though, we need to talk with them, which is a lot more complicated.

The truth is, I’m a sucker for the well-timed arrival of useful data: just the right information, just when you need it. It’s the surest way, if you ask me, to make any system work… or work better. Over the last few days—often while I’m walking on the treadmill, trying to hit my step goal for the day—I’ve been thinking about the fact that we really don’t get very much well-timed useful data at all in the theater. For example, let’s think about one obvious piece of information we all care about: ticket sales.

Speaking of centralized authority figures: we are also so accustomed to having the “initial creative impulse” of a play come from a playwright .... But given the core task of the role—establishing the high-level vision for a production—is there any reason why, say, a designer or actor couldn’t serve as a product owner? I mean… why should playwrights be the only theater artists who get to sit in the “big vision” chair? In an agile theater world, they wouldn’t.

Every month, this column will investigate the ways in which technology can inspire us, transform us, and help us chart a new course in the 21st century. This edition, Gwydion Suilebhan talks about the pros and cons of new approaches to the way we write.

Technology reflects and changes the ways in which we think.  We need to start telling more stories designed to accommodate our interactivity of the internet to grow with our audiences.

Gwydion Suilebhan proposes the use of big data in season planning – what can we learn from companies like Netflix when it comes to making theater that will impact audiences and turn a profit?

How does technology inspire us, transform us, and help us chart a new course in the 21st century.  This installment follows the story of Erol Onaran's growth from a television repariman to millionaire.