Overview

Theatre does not merely use technology – it is a technology. In this paradigm-shifting study, W. B. Worthen shows how the dynamics of obsolescence and affective nostalgia that shape the passing of technologies into history also shape and reshape theatrical practice. Locating theatre within rather than outside the orbit of media studies, Theatre as Technology traces the theatre's absorption of, and absorption by, digital culture. Treating subjects as wide-ranging as pandemic-era Zoom theatre, on-stage video and sound technologies, and artificial intelligence, Worthen locates a moment of transformational change in the idea of the theatre, change prompted by the theatre's always-changing, and so always obsolescing, material technologies.

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9781009647359

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Reviews

'William Worthen sets out to explore the future of theatre by taking a provocative point of departure: the concept of obsolescence. Inspired by contemporary experiences (especially the rapid digitization caused by the Corona-pandemic) and with profound historical expertise, Theatre as Technology opens a new discussion about theatre in the twenty-first century.' Peter W. Marx, Professor of Theater Studies, University of Cologne 'Traveling from Aeschylus to Zoom theatre, from Beckett to Burbage, and from the papyrus scroll – via Captain Kirk's communicator – to the iPhone, Worthen's journey through theatre and technology offers a unique and compelling vision of the past, present and future of performance.' Robert Shaughnessy, Professor of Theatre, University of Surrey

Author Information

W. B. Worthen is Alice Brady Pels Professor in the Arts at Barnard College, Columbia University. A distinguished scholar and theorist of modern performance, his work on the intersection of ideology and materiality in modern drama and in modern Shakespeare performance takes in the practices of acting, dramatic writing, print and digital media, film and television, and the stage. He has held fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Guggenheim Foundation.

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