Navigating Digitally-Mediated Theatre with Intermediaturgy By John Battye A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Performance Studies Department of Drama University of Alberta © John Battye, 2020 ii Abstract Traditional dramaturgical practice does not adequately account for how emergent digital media can interact with elements of performance in intermedial theatre, leading to an art form that is critically and compositionally inaccessible. When live and not-live components interact on stage, how does that reflect a contemporary notion of the body? And how does theatre that grapples with this interaction speak to the digital beyond the stage? This thesis explores the impact of media on notions of the body, identity, and space through a new genre of theatre, called digitally-mediated theatre (DMT). The increasing reliance on media platforms as a form of social exchange and digital media saturation have created a society that is integrated, infested, and extended by the media. DMT artists criticize this media relationship and encourage mindful awareness of its influence by taking the self-same digital media technology, embedding it in performance. A selection of DMT performances will be analyzed using an intermediaturgical process to break down the mechanisms that are used to play with notions of body, identity, and space. As intermediaturgy is concerned with human perception and navigation of mediated environments, this will allow for an analytical framework that will be resistant to obsolescence as digital media technology continues to evolve. By demonstrating this method of analysis, the aim of this thesis is to help clarify a field at odds with itself, demystify the artists from their auteur status, and increase the accessibility of the form to new and emerging artists and students of the arts. iii Acknowledgements This thesis was made possible by the support of the University of Alberta Drama Department, providing funding and academic support to complete the requirements of this degree. Through my PhD career I have also been supported through funding for research and academic pursuits by MacEwan University, Dalhousie University, Ignite Afrika Trust, and grants and scholarships earned and awarded through the Drama Department. I would like to thank my supervisor, Dr. Donia Mounsef, for providing support, guidance, and counsel through the entirety of this journey, as well as my supervisory committee, Dr. Piet Defraeye, Dr. Geoffrey Rockwell, and Dr. Michael O’Driscoll, for their valuable feedback and input throughout the candidacy and writing process. Thank you, Dr. Bruce Barton and Dr Jonathan Cohn for participating in my defense, and thank you to the Drama administration for keeping things running: Julie Brown, Connie Golden, Hellen Baggely, Liz Ludwig, Ruth Vander Woude, and Chairs Prof. Kathleen Weiss, and Dr. Melanie Dreyer-Lude. On a more personal note, I would like to thank Prof. Jan Selman for supporting me as a scholar and theatre maker throughout my graduate career and providing me with guidance whenever I needed it. My friends, family, and loved ones who carefully read the document that follows were crucial to its success. Brianne, Telisa, Lily, Melissa, Xavia, Heun Jung, Lebogang and Cristian, I would not have been able to finish this journey without you. Research, scholarship, and theatre are never and should never be undertaken alone. All of you have helped me have courage, find my voice, and given me the space to say and do something that means a lot to me. Thank you. iv Table of Contents List of Figures ..................................................................................................................................... v Introduction How Can We Look at Media? ......................................................................................................... 1 Chapter Breakdown ......................................................................................................................... 7 Accessing Intermediality in Theatre and Performance ................................................................. 11 Chapter 1: Tracking Digitally-Mediated Theatre and Intermediaturgy 1.1 Introducing Intermediality in Performance ............................................................................ 14 1.2 Digitally-Mediated Theatre as a Genre .................................................................................. 22 1.3 From Drama-, to Media- to Inter- Analysis ........................................................................... 36 Chapter 2: What is a Body in Digitally-Mediated Theatre? 2.1 Introduction, The Elusive Body .............................................................................................. 52 2.2 Liveness and Media ................................................................................................................. 56 2.3 Bodyism .................................................................................................................................. 68 2.4 The Posthuman Debate ........................................................................................................... 76 2.5 The Mediated Virtual Body .................................................................................................... 82 Chapter 3: Troubled Identities/Conflicted Presences in Digitally-Mediated Theatre 3.1 Co-Present Digital Identity...................................................................................................... 91 3.2 A Question of Presence ........................................................................................................... 95 3.3 Honing Digital Identity ......................................................................................................... 105 3.4 The Impact of Mass Communication and Surveillance ........................................................ 114 3.5 Cyborg Intersections ............................................................................................................. 121 3.6 Playing with Distance and Engagement ................................................................................ 130 Chapter 4: The Non-space of Digital Environments in Digitally-Mediated Theatre 4.1 Locating Body and Identity in Space .................................................................................... 137 4.2 Here and Theatre: Telepresence and Telematic Action ........................................................ 141 4.3 Supermodernity and “Non-Place Spaces” ............................................................................. 167 4.4 Environmental Unconscious and Framing Digital Environments ......................................... 175 4.5 Grounding the Body in Space ............................................................................................... 186 Conclusion Coming Back to the Ranch ........................................................................................................ 189 What Next?.................................................................................................................................. 195 Bibliography.................................................................................................................................... 198 Appendix I: Links to Productions ................................................................................................... 208 v List of Figures Figure 1: Future of Memory, Troika Ranch ....................................................................................... 2 Figure 2: Screen save her, Avatar Body Collision ........................................................................... 30 Figure 3: Les Cenci, A Story of Artaud, Gopala Davies ................................................................... 35 Figure 4: House/Lights, Wooster Group .......................................................................................... 39 Figure 5: Firefall, John Jesurun ....................................................................................................... 42 Figure 6: Searching, Sony Films ...................................................................................................... 43 Figure 7: 4th Skin. Kavdanska in collaboration with Kotki Visuals ................................................. 60 Figure 8: Boom!, Rick Miller ........................................................................................................... 63 Figure 9: Eye/Body, Carolee Schneemann ....................................................................................... 70 Figure 10: Needles and Opium, Robert LePage ............................................................................... 86 Figure 11: Peepshow, Marie Brassard ............................................................................................. 87 Figure 12: Hamlet 360: Thy Father’s Spirit, Commonwealth Shakespeare Company .................. 106 Figure 13: The Body in Question(s)², Van Grimde Corps Secrets & Brian Webb Dance Co ........ 110 Figure 14: ANXIETY, Theatre Yes ................................................................................................. 117 Figure 15: Reincarnation of St. Orlan, ORLAN ............................................................................ 127 Figure 16: Call cutta in a box, Rimini Protokoll ............................................................................ 132 Figure 17: Kamp, Hotel Modern