Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Stop Bashing Theatre Technology
Stage Directions: "Thanks to the increasing presence of multimedia in theatre productions, and pushed into prominence thanks to the very public, outrageous—and seemingly continuing—accidents on the Broadway production of Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, theatre “technology” has become a bit of a whipping boy lately. But—while absolutely affirming that these accidents were horrific, absolutely unacceptable, and an anathema to creating a safe space where art can flourish—these accidents seem to have spurred a rising sense of “technology is the death of true theatre.”
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3 comments:
I think that a lot of the objections people have to theatre technology don't come from its existence, rather from the fact that in some big shows, technology seems to be an excuse for a less-than-stellar beginning product. I like technology, I support using it, but what has upset me in theatre is when I see a show, and the technology is so overwhelming that I can't find the story. It's almost as if they're trying to hide the fact that there isn't more to the story than spectacle, and as Aristotle reminds us, plot is the most important element of drama, and spectacle is the least. This is not to go for the "bare stage, one chair" theory either, just to say that technology can be used to great positive effect in theatre if it too is part of the storytelling, and not just eye and ear candy.
This is a totally true article that people have to stop thinking that all theater technology is bad and will get hurt. Of course when you are pursuing the limits of what things and people can do you are going to have problems. But once the show is going and people see what the technology can do when all the bugs are worked out, it will be amazing. The fact that it looks scary makes it even more exciting. I hope that spider-man will not make theaters take a step back and stop using advanced technology in there shows. Our industry is so innovative. If we were to lose that I don’t know if I would like it is as much anymore.
the most interesting part of this article is the comments between the articles author and someone named Brittney. i agree that technology is a great tool in story telling, but sometimes shows focus on the spectacle in a show rather than its plot. I remember in Design for the Stage Dick always tells us not to get caught up in out first idea and not to design around it because you end up creating a weaker product. i feel that some shows focus on the technology they can use and create upon that. From what i have read, Spiderman is one of those shows
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