Digital Media and Technology

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.

This Thursday's topic will be: The Internet + Audience Engagement. How do your audiences continue their in-person experience on the internet? What are the in-person manifestations of your online engagement? Join us Thursday, October 24 for the Weekly Howl on hashtag #newplay at 11:00am PDT – 12pm PDT (Los Angeles) / 1:00pm CDT – 2pm CDT (Austin) / 2:00pm EDT – 3pm EDT (New York) / 18:00 GMT – 19:00 GMT / 7:00pm BST - 8pm BST (London) / 8:00pm CEST - 9pm CEST (Berlin).

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?

Allison Vanouse writes about DEAD ART STAR at Bathaus, and how social media documentation interacts and intersects with performance art and its goals.

(Re)Search is a six part series by Bree Windham a current graduate student in dramaturgy. It details her experiences as a young dramaturg navigating different resources and the ways she has come utilize them through trial, error, and advice from others.

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.

With one actor playing to one audience member, Garret Jon Groenvelt sought to create a play that entices the audience member to interact with the material.

This week's topic is: "Technology is transforming the practice of theater. How can we invite technological change and not lose our way?"

In the land of film and technology, LA pushes theatre to innovate the theatrical definition of reality.

This week's topic is: "Artistic Legitimacy, Prestige, Status & How It is Changing". What are the social dynamics that impact the lives of artists, organizations, and their work? Are they changing in the 21st Century?

Join us for the Weekly Howl on the impact of social media on the future of arts criticism.

Woolly Mammoth's Miriam Weisfield introduces us to The Carnegie Mellon Entertainment Technology Center, an exciting new iniative where technology and playwriting team up to engage audiences in ways never before seen.

Playwright Anne García-Romero writes about the LoNyLa Writers Lab, which uses live video streaming to facilitate script development workshops for one play, in three cities.