Live Theatre...sort of...

Technology. Without it you wouldn't be reading these words and I wouldn't be writing them. It's a wonder. And oh how technology has changed the possibilities of how storytelling at the theatre is delivered. When Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale was first performed on May 11, 1611 at the Globe playhouse, their lighting design was provided by the sun. Their amplification system was healthy vocal projection provided by the actors and the architecture of the building. I wonder what The Bard would think of how I experienced The Winter's Tale today.

Kenneth Branagh and Judi Dench are currently starring in a production of The Winter's Tale here in London at the Garrick Theatre. Produced by the Branagh Theatre Company in this, their inaugural season, The Winter's Tale is a hot ticket this season. Today, I had the opportunity to see the show but, with a twist. I saw the show from a seat at the cinema about two blocks from my flat. No, it was not a film version. It was not a prerecorded version of the stage show. It was streamed live from the Garrick Theatre to the cinema where we experienced the show in real time with the patrons at the Garrick. To be fair, this isn't really a new concept. Sporting events have been broadcast live to sports bars around the world for decades. There was less beer, shouting at referees and no commercial breaks at The Winter's Tale today but, it is a similar idea.

So here is the brain teaser for pondering; did I see theatre today? I saw a live show, that was for some that were in the audience, no doubt, theatre but I was not in the same space, the same room as the actors, so what does that make it for me? Does the very definition of "theatre" require the individual audience member to be there in person? Many would say yes. Others would count my experience today as theatre.

This is a new frontier for the world of theatre. We may have to clarify definitions and maybe come up with some new vocabulary. Filming shows and then broadcasting them later or selling VHS copies or DVDs has been in practice for a while now. In recent years, downloading and streaming previously filmed performances is a service offered by Digital Theatre, iTunes, Netflix and other online resources. Viewing shows in those ways is watching an archive of a live performance and still gives the viewer the option to pause, rewind or come back to the very same document of a performance later.

The Winter's Tale was not an archive and we will not be able to experience it, like we experienced it today, ever again. If this performance was recorded for later viewing, it too will be an archive. But today we had to be there on time for curtain, we had a 20 minute intermission (or interval, if you're British) and the actors had a curtain call at the end. Funny fact; no one in the cinema applauded. This is not to say people didn't like it because people were gushing praise as they left the auditorium. So there is another curiosity. Do we only thank the actors for their live performance if they can hear our thanks? If a tree falls in the forest...

I think I shall have to find some of my theatre comrades and debate this subject further: what exactly is live theatre?

In the meantime, go see some! At a theatre or a cinema!
Take care!
-m