The Theatre Times: “YES! Wow! I think we are finally entering the twenty-first century!” the troll roared, stomping her feet joyfully on the ground, each stomp producing thunderous, boulderlike sounds. It was her first time trying on the troll sound costume I had prepared for her–and the first time anyone at the Croatian National Theatre had ever acted with motion sensors. It was also my first time using these sensors for theatrical sound design, but the novelty of the technology had already worn off a bit
3 comments:
I like hearing about new kinds of technologies in theatres because it’s so interesting to learn what’s going on with how backstage theatre magic is transforming. There are so many different things that can be done with the tech that’s coming out in order to make the shows look and run much more smoothly. As someone who did some sound during high school, it was cool to read about the motion sensors they used for sound effects, as that perfects the timing aspect of them. However, part of me also is a little cautious about a lot of new technologies because at what point does it erase the need for people to learn how to watch for things and get good at timing for themselves, rather than just relying on technology to do it for them? And what happens should the technology fail? Would someone still be able to replace it, or could they not since they relied too heavily on the tech to be able to learn how to do it manually? In terms of new technologies in the theatre, I’m probably the most wary around things like projections and LED walls. I’ve mentioned it before, but a lot of times it makes me feel as though it’s an excuse to make things digital and not build a physical set. I think they can be both used effectively and look great, but in moderation. For moving parts and added special effects, I think that’s great. But when the whole thing is a blank stage or blank walls with projected images, it personally detracts from the performance. In the sense of automation and making things like puppets come to life, or furniture move, I think it’s great.
I agree completely with this author that we can only truly begin to create art with a technology once it has lost its newness and stopped being like a shiny, new toy. I think whenever a new technology comes into wide use in theatre (the most recent example I can think of is media projections) that there is a period when people are so excited by its possibilities and lost sight of the overall creative vision in favor of using the technology for technology's sake. Then after a while, it becomes a bit more like any other tool in our toolkit that we use to portray ideas and evoke emotions onstage. But I also think the journey to understanding how we can incorporate cutting-edge technology into our storytelling is so exciting. I've over the course of the past year realised that I can be a part of that exploration and am now pursuing a BXA degree in Drama and Computer Science. I can't wait to see what innovations come next and what parts I can play in their integration into our storytelling.
Incorporating technology in theater is a fascinating topic to me, and the troll described in this article absolutely tickles me. The possibilities that exist in when you start to play with new ideas are endless. While part of me wants to remain a traditionalist and ask the audience to use their imagination, responsive tech to motion, heart rate, sound, etc opens a whole new world of storytelling. I know in my undergrad I was tasked to write a paper about MIT’s Robot Opera. The story involved a man, near the end of his life and struggling with terminal disease, not wanting to leave the earth, and uploading his consciousness to become one with his “smart” house. After setting that part of the story up in front of the audience, the singer then disappeared from the stage in dramatic smoke and lights, only to rush backstage and have himself hooked up to a machine that then responded to his pulse, his breathing, and his singing. He continued to perform off stage, as his character’s family dealt with this new loss without loss, and various elements of the set became the character. While the moving of set pieces and which set piece the on-stage actors were interacting with was set, the colors, lights, and levels, were directly related to the inputs of the off stage actor in his performance. Not all stories need this kind of advance technology, but having this technology opens doors to new stories for telling.
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