In October 2009 I will be beginning a PhD in Theatre and Technology at Loughborough University.  I will most likely be blogging my ongoing thoughts and experiences here, though am considering setting up a dedicated online space to collate my work and invite others to contribute. In the meantime however I’m posting my research proposal, so you can get a taste of my research interests, and see what I’m going to be thinking about over the next 3 years. If you are actually interested and want to know more, just drop me an email/tweet/etc.

(Apologies for the AcademicSpeek)

Theatre and Digital Technology (PhD with practice)

The scope of the topic: Theatre and Technology will look at technology as both vehicle and subject matter in contemporary theatre. On the one hand the study will look at the true (as opposed to gimmick-driven) use of technology in theatre, particularly in a political and educational context, and on the other it will consider how theatre-writing can address the changing face of human social-interaction in a ‘Web 2.0’ world.  The study will work towards theorising and testing a series of new models and genres for the application of technology in theatre and within theatrical storytelling. I intend that this research will form a fundamental and relevant collection of methods and theorisation of how theatre can react and adapt to new media.

Methods/approach/theory: The research will take the form of a 60:40 theory:practice split. The theory will be developed out of a philosophical (mainly phenomenological and semiotic) starting point and will converge with reading on narrative in technology, identity and social media, gender/race studies, applied theatre, and colonialism in a theatrical context. The research will then drive an investigation into two main areas; the use of technology in theatre, and how the experience of technology is portrayed in theatre. From here the two strands will be developed via discussion with the current theatrical world.

The first part of Theatre and Technology will examine how applied theatre can reap the benefits of gender/race/class and youth activism in the context of new technology, and how the democratising power of the internet can be harnessed in a live theatrical framework in order to speak to new audiences. Following on from a theoretical starting point the ideas will be informed by direct interviews with theatre practitioners and participants, taking in projects ranging from the National Theatre’s live streaming programme, to C&T Theatre’s innovative use of technology and theatre in learning. There will also be a dedicated online space and social networking presence for the thesis in order to allow debate and discussion, and the testing of theories in practice.

In the second part of the study, the thesis will move on from the theory to look at the ‘bracketed’ aspect of live performance, and how the tension between identity, reality and story is imitated in technology. The study will question how far mainstream theatre-writing has delved into modern ideas of identity, loneliness, and being, and work to develop new modes and genres in order to examine the problems inherent in telling the stories of the contemporary world.

The practice will interweave between these two parts, testing theories of technology in theatre as a socio-political tool, as well as developing a body of theatre-writing examining contemporary models and genres, allowing theatre new ways of examining identity and human interaction in the age of web 2.0. The applied theatre writing will be developed alongside current practising companies, and the creative writing will be showcased in a ‘testing ground’ of invited professionals and non-professionals in a dedicated space at the Royal Court Theatre, to which I have access through my work on their Young Writers Programme. The practice based work will be necessarily influenced by the preliminary research, but initial areas of interest are both theatre-writing that features technology as a part of its dramaturgy and playing (working from ideas of collectivity, wikis, and applied theatre), and theatre writing that directly addresses the modern experience of technology – love and loneliness in a hyper-connected world – plays which blend real and online experience, examining modern identity. The intention is to eke out new models of theatre writing in an applied-theatre context, and new modes of theatre writing in terms of modern experience.

Plan of work: In June 2009 I will be working with Pilot Theatre on the live streaming and tweeting of their Shift Happens 2.0 conference. This conference will bring together theatre professionals, critics and academics (including the National Theatre, Lyn Gardner, C&T Theatre, Hoipolloi, the Cornerhouse, and more) to discuss technology in theatre – from live streaming and social networking, to genuine interactivity with the creative and performative processes. I intend to use this event to make contacts, and ground my ideas about theatre and technology in the realities of theatre-making from the outset. The thesis will then develop a highly theoretical base, working on the phenomenology and semiotics of theatre, how it is suited to the exploration of virtual worlds, as well considering the democratising and educational potential of technology in the face of the new media revolution. After a period of reading and developing ideas I will test them in practice through interviews with practitioners and participants, as well as developing and workshopping creative writing, and testing new applied theatre ideas in their intended context. I will continue to keep in touch with the theatre profession, throughout all of my work and use a dedicated web space as an area to develop and openly debate my ideas and findings in order to produce work that is technologically current, and practically relevant. This process of theorising and testing will naturally occur several times as I redevelop and refine my ideas and begin to present my work in the following sections:

Chapter headings and content:

Part One: Theatre and Technology in Practice

Chapter 1: A history of Theatre and Technology.

An examination of the history of the relationship between new media, technology and theatre.

Chapter 2: A Consideration of the Relevance and Communicative Aspect of Technology in Theatre

An examination of the ‘true’ use of technology in theatre

Chapter 3: Technology, Theatre and Difference

An examination of the democratising and educational power of technology, online and social media, and how this can be applied to the reconciliation of society to the ‘other’

Part Two: Theatre and Technology in Performance

Chapter 1: A History of Theatre Writing and Modernity

An examination of the history of theatre writing’s tackling of how technology has changed society.

Chapter 2: New Ways of Seeing; Technology and Phenomenology.

An examination of how theatre is phenomenologically suited to encapsulating the experience of modern technology.

Chapter 3: New Ways of Being; Modern Society in Theatre.

An examination of how contemporary theatre has begun to address society in the wake of new methods of communicating, as well as new genres and approaches to truly examine new notions of connectivity and loneliness, avatar and identity.

Part Three: Practical Work

Chapter 1: Practical Case Studies

A selection of practical case studies demonstrating the potential of theatre and technology in practice

Chapter 4: Examples of Theatre Writing

A selection of creative writing demonstrating the potential of theatre and technology in performance