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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

Theatre By and For Gamers
Podcast
Theatre By and For Gamers
by Tjaša Ferme, Emma Bexell
14 March 2024
Aerial Performance in a Wheelchair 
Podcast
Aerial Performance in a Wheelchair 
by Tjaša Ferme, Laurel Lawson
7 March 2024
Gore and Myth in Theatre Mitu's (holy) BLOOD
Podcast
Gore and Myth in Theatre Mitu's (holy) BLOOD
by Tjaša Ferme, Rubén Polendo
29 February 2024
Google Glass Performance of Annie Berman’s STREET VIEWS at Galerie Patrick Ebensperger
Video

Google Glass Performance of Annie Berman’s STREET VIEWS at Galerie Patrick Ebensperger

Saturday 14 February 2015
Berlin, Germany

On opening night, Berman further investigated the reality of embodiment/liveness/the artist’s presence/performance/live film, by performing a live broadcast of the installation, wearing Google Glasses ("Glass"). Her direct sight and interactions were broadcast via Google Glass,  livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Saturday 14 February at 8 p.m. CET (Berlin) / 7 p.m. GMT (London) / 2 p.m. EST (New York) / 1 p.m. CST (Chicago) / 11 a.m. PST (Los Angeles).

Bringing Theatre into the Digital Age
Essay

Bringing Theatre into the Digital Age

23 January 2015

Jeni Incontro encourages the theatre industry to change the business model by embracing technology, filming performances, and giving theatregoers the option of watching whenever they’d like.

Liz Fisher's Deus Ex Machina, A Choose-Your-Own-Adventure Performance
Video

Liz Fisher's Deus Ex Machina, A Choose-Your-Own-Adventure Performance

Sunday 18 January 2015
Austin, TX, United States

Whirligig ProductionsShrewd Productions, and Fusebox presented Deus Ex Machina from Austin, Texas  livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Sunday 18 January at 23:00 GMT (London)/ 6 p.m. EST (New York)/ 5 p.m. CST (Austin)/ 3 p.m. PST (Vancouver). Click here to view the livestream. Send text messages to +(1) 512-872-4637 during the performance.

10 Questions Provoked by Peter Pan Live! and Into The Woods
Essay

10 Questions Provoked by Peter Pan Live! and Into The Woods

Is Hate-Tweeting Healthy? What’s the Lesson for Theatre?

7 January 2015

Jonathan Mandell looks at the questions raised by stage-to-screen adaptations, and wonders what theatre can learn from these successes.

a puppet
Special Work in Progress Showing of The Return by Puppeteer Tom Lee 
Video

Special Work in Progress Showing of The Return by Puppeteer Tom Lee 

Tuesday 9 December / Wednesday, 10 December
New York, NY, United States

CultureHub SeoulArts/La MaMa presented a special work in progress showing of The Return by puppeteer Tom Lee in collaboration with the Seoul Institute of the Arts and Sarah Lawrence College livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Tuesday 9 December at 5:30 p.m. PST (Los Angeles) / 7:30 p.m. CST (Chicago) / 8:30 p.m. EST (New York) / Wednesday, December 10 at 1:30am GMT (London) / Wednesday, December at 10:30 a.m KST (Seoul). In Twitter, use #howlround to share this event.

Surveillance Salon curated by Anna Barsan at the Art & Technology Festival Refest 2014
Video

Surveillance Salon curated by Anna Barsan at the Art & Technology Festival Refest 2014

Saturday 22 November 2014
New York City, NY, United States

CultureHub SeoulArts/La MaMa in New York City presented Surveillance Salon curated by Anna Barsan at the art and technology festival Refest 2014 livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Saturday 22 November at 2 p.m. PST (Vancouver) / 4 p.m. CST (Austin) / 5 p.m. EST (New York) / 22:00 GMT (London).

Several photos of Cynthia Ling Lee.
Interweaving Theory and Practice
Essay

Interweaving Theory and Practice

the Post Natyam Collective's Web-based Collaborative Process

30 October 2014

Over the past seven years, the Post Natyam Collective’s creative practice has transitioned from in-person collaboration to web-based collaboration. Often our process is deeply informed by scholarly engagement, including feminism, queer theory, critical race theory, postcolonial studies, and subaltern histories of Indian classical dance forms. Collective members often develop promising seeds from our shared processes into diverse products: dance-for-camera pieces, art installations, lecture-demonstrations, performance works, and scholarly papers.

CultureHub Logo
Staging the Network
Video

Staging the Network

A Discussion about Telecommunications for Performance

Monday 13 October 2014
New York, NY, United States

CultureHub presented Staging the Network: A Discussion about Telecommunications for Performance livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Monday 13 October at 6:30 p.m. EDT (New York) / 11:30 p.m. BST (London) / 22:30 GMT / 5:30 p.m. CDT (Austin) / 3:30 p.m. PDT (Vancouver) / Tuesday, October 14 at 9:30 a.m. AEDT (Sydney). 

Collage of theatre artists gathering and speaking at the From Scarcity to Abundance convening.
Our Digital Present
Essay

Our Digital Present

11 October 2014

Café Onda (the Journal of the Latinx Theatre Commons) can’t make all our virtual dreams come true, but this space can celebrate the dynamic creativity and connectivity of Latina/o theatermakers as together we build our digital present.

tempest banner ad
Video Experiment from Miracle Theatre's The Tempest 
Video

Video Experiment from Miracle Theatre's The Tempest 

Tuesday 9 September 2014
Falmouth, UK

Miracle Theatre of Cornwall, United Kingdom presented a performance of The Tempest livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Tuesday 9 September at 19:30 BST (UK) / 18:30 GMT / 2:30 p.m. EDT (New York) / 1:30 p.m. CDT (Chicago) / 11:30 a.m. PDT (Los Angeles).

Miranda Wright and Practicing Performance in Los Angeles
Essay

Miranda Wright and Practicing Performance in Los Angeles

4 September 2014

Miranda Wright doesn’t want to be pegged – not yet. The theatrical environment that she’s creating is both local and global—theater for a world that is simultaneously more connected and isolated, more expansive, more community-oriented, more lonely. More than anything, she’s concerned with the present moment.

The World Wide Theater at Our Fingertips
Essay

The World Wide Theater at Our Fingertips

27 August 2014

Alex Ates and DCW3 offer an overview of the how the internet has shaped theatre.

a portrait of mike lew
Going Digital
Essay

Going Digital

How Should We Publish & License New Plays In An Online World?

17 July 2014

#RightsWeek post: While I think the databases may be useful for schools and small companies, at the highest level I question whether access to plays is really the rate-limiter behind getting more plays to production. Rather I think the dialogue between producers and playwrights is limited and opaque and inauthentic, leading to misspent efforts all around.

The Twitter logo.
#RightsWeek Twitter Chat
Essay

#RightsWeek Twitter Chat

Publishing Your Work in New Media—Thurs, July 17

14 July 2014

As part of the "#RightsWeek: Protecting & Sharing Your Intellectual Property" series on HowlRound, this week's Twitter conversation topic is "Publishing Your Work in New Media" and will be moderated by Amy Rose Marsh @AmyRoseMarsh and Samuel French, Inc @MrSamuelFrench—who like all of our moderators, authors, and content producers—self-selected to peer-produce on this commons-based platform! This hour-long Howl will take place on Thursday, July 17 on hashtag #newplay at 11am PDT (Vancouver) / 1pm CDT (Austin) / 2pm EDT (New York) / 18:00 GMT / 7pm BST (London).

Wide logo for Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of The Americas.
Livestreaming the 2014 Literary Managers & Dramaturgs of the Americas International Conference
Video

Livestreaming the 2014 Literary Managers & Dramaturgs of the Americas International Conference

Thursday, June 26 to Saturday, June 28, 2014
Boston, MA, United States

Literary Managers & Dramaturgs of the Americas will hold its 2014 annual international conference in Boston, USA: "Building the Future" and will livestream five events on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv from Thursday, June 26 to Saturday, June 28, 2014. To participate in online conversation, use #LMDA14 and #newplay in Twitter and follow @LMDAmericas and @HowlRoundTV.

The Twitter logo.
Twitter Chat Topic
Essay

Twitter Chat Topic

How are Theater Makers using the Internet?—Thurs, June 5

2 June 2014

This week's conversation topic is "How are Theater Makers using the Internet?" and will be moderated by Ray Nelson @justraynelson—who like all of our moderators, authors, and content producers—self-selected to peer-produce on this commons-based platform! This hour-long Howl will take place on Thursday, June 5 on hashtag #newplay at 11am PDT (Vancouver) / 1pm CDT (Austin) / 2pm EDT (Toronto) / 18:00 GMT / 7pm BST (London).

Techne
Essay

Techne

Skunk Works

29 May 2014

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?

ptc logo
Interactive Storytelling: Video Games and Theatre
Video

Interactive Storytelling: Video Games and Theatre

Tuesday 20 May 2014
Vancouver, Canada

You’re invited to join Playwrights Theatre Centre from Vancouver, Canada for a conversation about Interactive Storytelling: Video Games and Theatre which is livestreaming for the global, commons-based peer produced HowRound TV network at howlround.tv on Tuesday 20 May at 5 p.m. PDT (Vancouver) / 7 p.m. CDT (Austin) / 8 p.m. EDT (Toronto) / Wednesday, May 21 at 00:00 GMT / 10 a.m. AEST (Sydney).

Theatre Bay Area logo
Theatre Bay Area Annual Conference 
Video

Theatre Bay Area Annual Conference 

Monday 14 April 2014
San Francisco, CA, United States

Theatre Bay Area presented three sessions from their annual conference livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Monday 14 April.

Techne
Essay

Techne

What’s In a Website?

25 March 2014

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.

Logo for Dramatists Guild.
Technology for the Composer at The Dramatists Guild
Video

Technology for the Composer at The Dramatists Guild

Thursday 21 March 2013
New York, NY, United States

The Dramatists Guild of America presents the next event in their new DG Conservatory series moderated by Tony-winning composer and Guild Council member, Stephen Flaherty, Technology for the Composer 2, livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Thursday 21 March 2013 at 3 p.m.-4:30 p.m. PDT (San Francisco) / 5 p.m.-6:30 p.m. CDT (Chicago) / 6 p.m.-7:30 p.m. EDT (New York) / 22:00-23:30 GMT (London).

Uniting Civic Technology with Arts as Civic Practice
Essay

Uniting Civic Technology with Arts as Civic Practice

10 March 2014

Paul M. Davis illuminates the importance of artists and technologists collaborating in the civic sphere.

A Fitbit.
Techne
Essay

Techne

Getting Fit

17 February 2014

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.

Peter Pan promo shot.
Peter Pan in 2014
Essay

Peter Pan in 2014

Notes For NBC’s Creative Team

31 January 2014

Talleri McRae offers her thoughts on Peter Pan Live, and how NBC might approach bringing the family tale to the small screen.

Several actors onstage.
Live Cinema Performance Event of The Disinherited, Adapted from Chekhov's Platonov
Video

Live Cinema Performance Event of The Disinherited, Adapted from Chekhov's Platonov

Friday 17 January 2014
New York, NY, United States

The Kitchen presented The Disinherited: Live Cinema Performance Event livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Friday 17 January 2013 at 5 p.m. PST/ 7 p.m. CST/ 8 p.m. EST/ (1am GMT on Saturday 18 January) and again on Friday 24 January. In Twitter, use #howlround to comment and share and follow @HowlRoundTV for updates.