Re: RAT Response to Online Theater Comments Re. Cat Hebert

[Cat Hebert <virtualdrama@juno.com>]

Any medium is what it is made to be. If a particular experience requires
3D, 2D isn't going to cut it. (My main interest is immersive,
interactive, VR storytelling, so believe me, 2D performances don't excite
me.)

However, where the *dialogue* or the *content* of a piece are primary,  a
2D translation can work somewhat better -- so the Gurney makes sense.
What people need to do is to make sure to include the interactive
component -- allowing people to talk to the characters or to talk with
the actors separately. That enhances the notion of community.

And... remember, I'm calling this hybrid form "theater" so that live
theater can get some bounceback from it. People noodling in front of a
camera isn't much different than people noodling in front of a campfire,
is it?  *That* to me is theater -- the family, community basis of acted
out stories.  The most powerful theater I've ever been part of was/is
various forms of psychodrama (my background is partly in clinical psych).
That doesn't translate well *at all* to non-interactive forms. And it
isn't really "professional" in the usual sense.

Since the hi-tech forms have hi-touch coming in the not-too-distant
future [just saw a great demo in NYC], I see theater as an ideal approach
to those new forms of storytelling. And I would like for an entire
generation (and not just a few of the anointed/selected/groomed) to have
access to the community-sharing that theater can bring.

Cheers,
Cat Hebert


> 
> Your comments about doing online "theatre" do sound interesting. But 
> of 
> course, you're not talking about theatre. You're talking about 
> people 
> noodling in front of a camera. You're talking about more Internet 
> "films." 
> Yup, we sure need more of those.
> 
> By definition, if it's got a camera on it, and/or it goes online, 
> then it's 
> TV or new media. If it's not driven by audience reaction (as in 
> plays that 
> people want to see), it's likely to combine the worst of both 
> forms.
> 
> For the best of what "televised" theatre can be, check out Stage On 
> Screen's 
> adaptations of Gurney and others. It's a hybrid form that stays true 
> to 
> theatrical roots -- or as much as it can.
> 
> You also say that lots of theatre is elitist or out of touch.
> All the more reason to follow the companies that prize language, 
> offer 
> stories that provoke and great acting/writing.  Live theatre.  That 
> speaks to 
> people.   Not new media stuff that potentially adds to the dreck and 
> dross of 
> the Internet.
> 
> 
> 
> 
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