Digital Media and Technology

Digital media and technology are ever-evolving, and so is their relationship to theatre. In this section, you can learn about how theatremakers are incorporating media and tech into their art-making and career-building, as well as read New Crit pieces about work created to be shared online. Two interesting series to explore for a sense of how quickly the conversations change are Gwydion Suilebhan’s Techne—essays written in 2013 and 2014—and Performing the Internet, curated by Kate Bergstrom in January 2021. Check out content from the 2019 Digital + Performance Convening for a multifaceted look at this topic!

The Latest

Two Hundred Digital Theatre Reviews and Counting

Essay

Two Hundred Digital Theatre Reviews and Counting

by Ricky Young-Howze, Dana Young-Howze

28 September 2021

Livestreaming a Performance: Electric Gugak

Video

Livestreaming a Performance: Electric Gugak

A Multi-locational Live Concert which Features Performances from Seoul, New York City, and Los Angeles

Friday 5 November 2021

United States

Waves of Gravity

Video

Waves of Gravity

Through Raga, Polyphonic Overtone Singing, Experimental Music, Improvisational Flights of Fancy, and Spoken Word, Neel Murgai Creates a Psychedelic Universe of Sight and Sound

Thursday 21 October and Friday 22 October 2021

United States

Livestreaming a Performance: Electric Gugak

CultureHub

Video

Livestreaming a Performance: Electric Gugak

A Multi-locational Live Concert which Features Performances from Seoul, New York City, and Los Angeles

Friday 5 November 2021

United States

La MaMa and CultureHub present Electric Gugak livestreaming on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Friday 5 November 2021 at 5 p.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 8 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 9 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / 10 a.m. KST (Seoul, UTC +9).

Photo of artist looking into camera with colorful filter over face.

Livestreaming a Performance: Downtown Variety: Mexico Edition

La MaMa

CultureHub

Video

Livestreaming a Performance: Downtown Variety: Mexico Edition

Bringing La MaMa's 1960s Café Aesthetic to a Virtual Platform that Links Performers and Audiences in Real Time Across Distance

United States

La MaMa and CultureHub present Downtown Variety: Mexico Edition livestreaming on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv.

artist holding a sitar in front of an image of a galaxy.

Waves of Gravity

CultureHub

Video

Waves of Gravity

Through Raga, Polyphonic Overtone Singing, Experimental Music, Improvisational Flights of Fancy, and Spoken Word, Neel Murgai Creates a Psychedelic Universe of Sight and Sound

Thursday 21 October and Friday 22 October 2021

United States

La MaMa and CultureHub present Waves of Gravity livestreaming on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Thursday 21 October and Friday 22 October 2021 at 5 p.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 7 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 8 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4).

A photo of a Zoom play with characters named Potential White Ally and Unapologetically Black Specialist with other people on screen for stage directions.

Two Hundred Digital Theatre Reviews and Counting

Essay

Two Hundred Digital Theatre Reviews and Counting

28 September 2021

When Ricky and Dana Young-Howze began reviewing digital theatre productions early in the COVID-19 pandemic, they weren’t expecting to build a tight-knit, global community. They share their journey into the digital theatre scene and reflect on what it has taught them.

Funding Accountability

Yura

Sapi

Podcast

Funding Accountability

With Iyvon E. of The Parsnip Ship

1 September 2021

Yura Sapi sits down with Iyvon E., artistic director of The Parsnip Ship, a podcast play company that amplifies bold artists for audiences who crave accessible stories and storytellers.

A woman in a white dress with short hair dancing with an ensemble of other women and men behind her.

Open Channels: The Journey Begins/Canales Abiertos: La jornada comienza

Essay

Open Channels: The Journey Begins/Canales Abiertos: La jornada comienza

29 July 2021

Fátima De La Caridad Patterson Patterson, Mathew Schwarzman, and Carolina Caballero share their experience of creating Open Channels, an event where artists from thirteen countries gathered digitally to talk about Caribbean popular theatre.

Fátima De La Caridad Patterson Patterson, Mathew Schwarzman, y Carolina Caballero comparten sus experiencias creando Open Channels (Canales Abiertos), un evento donde artistas de trece países compartieron digitalmente para hablar del Teatro Popular Caribeño.

A woman drinking water and sitting down on a chair surrounded by other chairs and onstage "woods".

“Layers of Distance”: On Loop as a Pandemic Play

Kate

Purdum

Essay

“Layers of Distance”: On Loop as a Pandemic Play

13 July 2021

Kate Purdum shares the challenges and successes of creating a hybrid virtual and in-person production of On Loop at Barnard College.

Creating New Mediums and Hustle Culture

Yura

Sapi

Podcast

Creating New Mediums and Hustle Culture

With Parmida Ziaei of Seda Iranian Ensemble

7 July 2021

In this episode of Building Our Own Tables, host Yura Sapi discusses Seda Iranian Theatre Ensemble, the first Iranian theatre company in Seattle, with co-founder Parmida Ziaei.

CultureHub Belgrade Convening

CultureHub

Video

CultureHub Belgrade Convening

Centering around the theme Solidarity: Digital Strategies for Creative Resilience

Thursday 1 July to Saturday 3 July 2021

Belgrade, Serbia

CultureHub presented the CultureHub Belgrade Convening livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv from Thursday 1 July to Saturday 3 July 2021.

actors in office attire perform with actor in green screen suit onstage.

Tilos az abadság - F* Ree Artists / New Year's Eve Revue

TV Free Europe / Szabad Európa TV

Video

Tilos az abadság - F Ree Artists / New Year's Eve Revue*

GHOST HOURS OF FREE ART livestreaming from the glorious halls of the Hungarian Metal Workers' Union in Budapest

Thursday 24 June 2021

Hungary

TV Free Europe presented Tilos az abadság - F* Ree Artists / New Year's Eve Revue livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Thursday 24 June 2021 at 1 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / 6 p.m. BST (London, UTC+1) / 19:00 CET (Budapest, UTC +2).

Illustration by Silent Fox, inspired by the essay.

When Theatre Will Become Fully Itself: Digital Supratheatre and the Fight for an Inclusive Future

Mihaela

Drăgan

Essay

When Theatre Will Become Fully Itself: Digital Supratheatre and the Fight for an Inclusive Future

Translated by Cecilia Laslo

25 May 2021

Mihaela Drăgan introduces digital supratheatre—a theatre of the future with two underlying principles: technological change and social change.

A map with two-faced performing arts symbols located within the US and in northwestern Europe.

Taking Rural Playwriting International

Jacob

Juntunen

Essay

Taking Rural Playwriting International

20 May 2021

Jacob Juntunen shares how the MFA playwriting program at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale adapted their new play festival for the online world and how open-access software and streaming platforms helped students at the rural school transcend geography.

Image of group of people marching in streets in Malawi

What Is the Way Forward for Theatre in Malawi, During and After the Pandemic?

Misheck

Mzumara

Essay

What Is the Way Forward for Theatre in Malawi, During and After the Pandemic?

4 May 2021

Misheck Mzumara looks at the way the COVID-19 pandemic has affected theatre in Malawi and thinks through what comes next.

six performers on a stage with watery blue silks

Learning from the Leaders

Luane

Davis Haggerty

Essay

Learning from the Leaders

Deaf Theatre Innovations in the Time of COVID-19

3 May 2021

Luane Davis Haggerty shares successes, learnings, and innovations from the Deaf theatre community over the past year of pandemic performance.

brightly colored graphic of person surrounded by objects against a blue background.

Odes for a World in Search of Joy

CultureHub

Video

Odes for a World in Search of Joy

Inspired by Pablo Neruda’s Odes to Common Things

Saturday 1 May 2021

United States

CultureHub presented a performance of Odes for a World in Search of Joy livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Saturday 1 May 2021 at 5 p.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 7 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 8 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4).

arms covered in paint reaching toward a person looking down.

Downtown Variety: Kenya Edition

CultureHub

La MaMa

Video

Downtown Variety: Kenya Edition

Bringing La MaMa's 1960s café aesthetic to a virtual platform that links performers and audiences in real time across distance

Friday 30 April 2021

Kenya

La MaMa and CultureHub presented Downtown Variety: Kenya Edition livestreaming on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Friday 30 April 2021 at 9 a.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 11 a.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 12 p.m. PDT (New York, UTC -4) / 7 p.m. EAT (Nairobi, UTC +3).

event poster with text for unrehearsed futures episode four.

Unrehearsed Futures: Theatre Making

Drama School Mumbai

Embodied Poetics

CTDPS, Cape Town

Video

Unrehearsed Futures: Theatre Making

Episode 4: Transference and Transposition - Notes from across the boundaries of the original medium

Thursday 29 April 2021

South Africa

Presenting Unrehearsed Futures: Theatre Making livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv Thursday 29 April 2021 at 5 a.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / 10 a.m. BST (London, UTC +1) / 11 a.m. SAST (Cape Town, UTC +2) / 2:30 p.m. IST (Mumbai, UTC +5:30) / 7 p.m. AEST (Hobart, UTC +10).

person in orange sweater writing in a notebook.

Negotiating Quotidian: Performing the Everyday

Segal

Center

Ph.D. Program in Theatre and Performance, The Graduate Center, City University of New York”

Video

Negotiating Quotidian: Performing the Everyday

Investigating how performing the everyday has recently changed our perception of and experience in theatre and performance

Wednesday 28 April and Thursday 29 April 2021

United States

The Ph.D. Program in Theatre and Performance, The Graduate Center, City University of New York presented Negotiating Quotidian: Performing the Everyday livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Wednesday 28 April and Thursday 29 April 2021.

event poster with text for unrehearsed futures episode 3.

Unrehearsed Futures: The Many Lives of Red Peter

Drama School Mumbai

Embodied Poetics

CTDPS, Cape Town

Video

Unrehearsed Futures: The Many Lives of Red Peter

Episode 3: On Theatre Making (it), before and after the pandemic

Thursday 22 April 2021

South Africa

Unrehearsed Futures: The Many Lives of Red Peter livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv Thursday 22 April 2021 at 4 a.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / 9 a.m. BST (London, UTC +1) / 10 a.m. SAST (Cape Town, UTC +2) / 1:30 p.m. IST (Mumbai, UTC +5:30) / 6 p.m. AEST (Hobart, UTC +10).

Footnote 3. An image of a door that opens up and allows a green galaxy of starts to pour through it. The door is on a wall of coding.

A Love Letter to Voyeuristic, Imaginative Acts

Aly

Perry

Essay

A Love Letter to Voyeuristic, Imaginative Acts

600 Highwaymen’s A Thousand Ways (Part One: A Phone Call)

22 April 2021

Aly Perry shares her experience of transformative public intimacy in 600 Highwaymen’s recent immersive show.

artist headshots on green background with white event text.

Welcome to Our Space

red background with rising sun graphic and white aurora theater text

Aurora Theatre Company

Video

Welcome to Our Space

Audience Experiences in Virtual Spaces

Thursday 15 April 2021

United States

Aurora Theatre presented the conversation Welcome to Our Space: Audience Experiences in Virtual Spaces livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Thursday 15 April 2021 at 5 p.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 7 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 8 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4).

zoom windows of artists performing in their homes.

Sonic Gathering In Person

CultureHub

Video

Sonic Gathering In Person

Featuring a rotating cast of dancers and musicians presenting new collaborative work of movement and sound

Wednesday 7 April 2021

United States

CultureHub presented Sonic Gathering In Person with Re-Fest livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Wednesday 7 April 2021 at 3 p.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 5 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 6 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4).

black and white photos of artists in zoom window boxes.

Virtual Translation: Bringing Piehole's Disclaimer to Zoom

Piehole

Video

Virtual Translation: Bringing Piehole's Disclaimer to Zoom

Join Piehole members for a (free) technical skill-share and discussion on adaptation across mediums

Monday 29 March 2021

United States

Piehole presented Virtual Translation: Bringing Piehole's Disclaimer to Zoom livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Monday 29 March 2021 at 3 p.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 5 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 6 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4).

Downtown Variety: SeoulArts Edition

CultureHub

La MaMa

Video

Downtown Variety: SeoulArts Edition

Bringing La MaMa's 1960s café aesthetic to a virtual platform that links performers and audiences in real time across distance

Friday 26 March 2021

Seoul, Korea

La MaMa and CultureHub presented Downtown Variety: SeoulArts Edition livestreaming on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Friday 26 February 2021 at 6 p.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 8 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 9 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / Saturday 27 February 2021 at 10 a.m. KST (Seoul, UTC +9).

Adapting to Pandemic Regulations

Merve

Parla

Essay

Adapting to Pandemic Regulations

A New Way of Performance Watching for an Old Classic

4 March 2021

Merve Parla shares her experience with Netherlands-based dance company Club Guy & Roni’s recent production of Swan Lake, an interactive experience with both offline and online components.