Theater of Lockdown Digital and Distanced Performance in a Time of Pandemic

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By Barbara Fuchs

Offering one of the first scholarly examinations of digital and distanced performance since the global shutdown of theatres in March 2020, Barbara Fuchs provides both a record of the changes and a framework for thinking through theatre's transformation. Though born of necessity, recent productions offer a new world of practice, from multi-platform plays on Zoom, WhatsApp, and Instagram, to enhancement via filters and augmented reality, to urban distanced theatre that enlivens streetscapes and building courtyards.

Based largely outside the commercial theatre, these productions transcend geographic and financial barriers to access new audiences, while offering a lifeline to artists. This study charts how virtual theatre puts pressure on existing assumptions and definitions, transforming the conditions of both theatre-making and viewership. How are participatory, site-specific, or devised theatre altered under physical-distancing requirements? How do digital productions blur the line between film and theatre? What does liveness mean in a time of pandemic? 

In its seven chapters, Theatre of Lockdown focuses on digital and distanced productions from the Americas, Europe, and Australia, offering scholarly analysis and interviews.