THEATRE AND THE VIDEO GAME: BEAUTY AND THE BEAST DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for The Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Katherine Lynne Whitlock, M.F.A. ***** The Ohio State University 2004 Dissertation Committee: Dr. Lesley K. Ferris, Advisor Approved by Dr. Alan Woods Dr. Brain Rotman Dr. Matthew Lewis _______________________ Adviser Theatre Graduate Program Copyright by Katherine Lynne Whitlock 2004 ABSTRACT As technology is altering the world, electronic games are changing the face of popular entertainment, infecting spectators with a craving for spectacle and interaction. Games allow viewers to become active participants in dramatic narrative, transforming audience into performer. The game player is joining in a mediatized theatrical experience that reshapes notions of performance, theatre, and audience. The first theatre scholar to connect theatre, computers, and performance was Brenda Laurel. Speculating on the nature of user interaction with the computer, Laurel used the Aristotelian elements of dramatic structure to create a new poetics for interactive fantasy generated in the computer realm. Since Laurel’s initial work in 1986, games have evolved beyond those of her pioneering study, creating a level of theatrical experience worthy of critical examination. The games from the late 1990’s and into the current century show a level of complexity in design and narrative that compels a re-examination of what has been dismissed by many as escapist entertainment. The electronic game industry has adopted theatrical devices and principles to produce a live, non-repeatable, and new form of theatrical experience. My research draws from traditional theatre theorists (such as Aristotle, Bertolt Brecht, Adolphe Appia, and Augusto Boal), modern theatre and performance theorists (such as Brenda Laurel, Janet Murray, Gay McAuley, and Richard Schechner), and game ii design theorists (such as Steven Poole, Bob Bates, and Richard Rouse), to assess the electronic game as a new and distinctive form of performance. This dissertation will examine a variety of computer and video games from five perspectives: 1) space 2) plot structures, 3) character, 4) theme, and 5) interactivity, with a view to articulating the modes of kinship between games and live performance. In recognizing and articulating such relationships, both gaming and theatre benefit, strengthening the aesthetic and structural creation of performance through technological means while recognizing the evolution of the current century audience from passive to active, spectator to player/performer. iii For my mother and my grandfather iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to thank my advisor, Lesley K. Ferris, for the infinite patience and support which made this possible. Without her aid, this dissertation would never have been possible. I wish to thank the rest of my committee, Alan Woods, Brian Rotman, and Matt Lewis, for their invaluable support and knowledge. I am grateful to my family and friends for the support and care during the writing process. v VITA August 29, 1970 Born – Memphis, Tennessee 1992 B.F.A. Theatre, University of Arizona. 1996 M.F.A. Theatre, University of Memphis. 1996 – 1997 Resident Sound Designer / Academic Professional, Department of Theatre Arts, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 1997 – 1999 Temporary Instructor, Department of Theatre and Dance, The University of Memphis, Memphis, TN 1999 – 2003 Graduate Teaching Associate, Department of Theatre, The Ohio State University 2003 – present Graduate Associate, Curatorial Assistant, The Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, OH PUBLICATIONS 1. Whitlock, Katie and Anne Farrelly. “Online Supplemental Materials and CR-ROM materials.” Wilson, Edwin. The Theater Experience. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2003. 2. Whitlock, Katie, and Anne Farrelly. "Chaper 17: Innovations in Technology.” Introducing Theatre. Ed. Joy C. Reilly and Scott Phillips. 8th ed. New York: Thomson Learning, 2002. 3. Whitlock, Katie. "Review: The Medieval Theater of Cruelty: Rhetoric, Memory, Violence by Jody Enders.” Theatre Studies 45 (2001): 101-03. FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: Theatre vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………ii Dedication………………………………………………………………………………...iv Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………………..v Vita………………………………………………………………………………………..vi List of Figures…………………………………………………………………………….ix Chapters: 1. Beauty Meets Beast: Connecting Theatre and Games……………………………1 The Basic Problem: Games and Theatre………………………………….4 The Beginnings of the Beast: A Short History of the Electronic Game…………………………………………………...9 Beauty and Technology: Theatre and the Computer……………………18 Structuring the Beast: Game Materials and Selection………………......25 Connecting Beauty to Beast……………………………………………...28 The Terms………………………………………………………………..32 Approaching the Question……………………………………………….37 2. Virtual Made Visible: Physical Space in the Game………….……….…………40 The Theatre and Space…………………………………………………...40 Cyberspace and the Virtual……………………………………………....43 Onstage with a Joystick: The Mechanics of Space……………………...48 The Social Reality………………………………………………..49 Audience Space………………………………………………….50 Practitioner Space………………………………………………..55 Performance Space………………………………………………58 Rehearsal Space………………………………………………….62 The Physical/Fictional Relationship……………………………………..63 Delineations of Narrative Space: Location and Fiction…………………67 Textual Space and Thematic Space……………………………………...70 3. Aristotle & Beyond: Narrative Structures in the Game…………………………73 Laurel and Interactive Fantasy: Aristotle meets Computers…………….76 Plot Basics: Find the Treasure – Kill the Monster – Save the World…...81 vii Linear Structure and Third Person Action: Aristotle meets Lara Croft….........................................................86 The Epic and the RPG: Brecht meets Final Fantasy……………………97 Forum Theatre and the MMORPG: Boal enters Norrath………………117 4. Questions of Character…………………………………………………………138 Foundations of Character………………………………………………139 Dramatic Characters…………………………………………………....144 The Question of Empathy………………………………………………164 5. Melodrama Rewired: Myths, Monsters, and Madness………………………...169 Religion and Myth: Gods and Monsters……………………………….173 The Concept of the Quest………………………………………………179 The Element of Danger – Kill or Be Killed…………………………….184 Spectacle: Texture Maps and Painted Flats……………………………186 6. Closing the Loop: Questions of the Spect-actor……………………………….196 Appendices: Appendix A: Game Genre Table……………………………………………………...209 Appendix B: Games Information……………………………………………………..213 Appendix C: ESRB Rating Symbols and Content Descriptors……………………….242 Bibliography…………………………………………………………………………....246 viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 2.1 Graphic Relationship between the virtual, the real, and illusion……..………….46 2.2 Graphic representation of McAuley’s outline of social reality…………………..50 3.1 Laurel’s relationship with Aristotle as outlined in her previous works………….77 3.2 Graphic continuum of story relationship to genre……………………………….81 3.3 Graphic representation of Freytag’s action arc…………………………………..87 3.4 Relationship between Linear structure, Aristotle, and third person action…...….89 3.5 Tomb Raider Structure map……………………………………………………...91 3.6 Tomb Raider in Freytag alignment………………………………………………95 3.7 Transference of Dramatic Theatre to Epic Theatre to games ………………….101 3.8 Relationship between Epic structure and the RPG……………………………..104 3.9 Final Fantasy VII Structure map……………………………………………….106 3.10 Suikoden III Structure Map……………………………………………………..114 3.11 Final Fantasy X-2 Structure Map………………………………………………116 3.12 Boal’s outline of transformation………………………………………………..121 3.13 Boal’s rules of Forum Theatre vs. MMORPGs………………………………...123 3.14 Relationship between Forum Theatre and MMORPGs………………………...126 3.15 Everquest Structure Map……………………………………………………….127 4.1 Neverwinter Nights Character Alignment Grid………………………………...157 5.1 Character relationships in Arc the Lad…………………………………………183 ix CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCING BEAUTY TO BEAST: CONNECTING THEATRE & GAMES In the year 20001 In the year 1999, the video game industry in the USA posted revenues of $6.6 billion in favorable comparison to the film industry, which posted $7.3 box office revenue. 60% of all Americans play computer and video games – 145 million Americans. Average age of players is 28 years old. 37% are under 17, but 61% are 18 and over. 43% of these players are female. In the year 20012 Worldwide, there are over 100 million computer game consoles. In the USA sales of games now outnumber sales of books. In the year 2002 Norrath, a virtual country (the setting for the online game, Everquest), was ranked as the 77th richest country in the world between Russia and Bulgaria.3 In July of 2002 the country of Greece banned all electronic games across the country applying heavy fines to all users including visitors from abroad. The legislation was determined to be unconstitutional and quickly overturned.4 1 Timothy Lenoir and Henry Lowood, "How They Got Game: The History and Culture of Interactive Simulations and Video Games,", Grant Proposal. 2000, Stanford University, 9 Sept. 2002 <http://www.stanford.edu/dept/HPS/VideoGameProposal>. Figures are predominantly cited as being from a poll conducted by Peter D. Hart & Associates but full citations are lacking in the text. 2 Digiplay Initiative, "Some Key Gaming Facts," Digiplay Initiative, 5 Mar. 2003, 21 Oct. 2003 <http://www.digiplay.org.uk/facts.php>.These figures are not cited from a poll. Unknown