REMEDIATING THE FOURTH WALL New Media and Contemporary Theatre Thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the Bachelor of Media and Communications (Honours) RMIT University School of Media and Communication Melbourne, Australia. Joshua Nettheim Bachelor of Performing Arts E: [email protected] Supervisor: Dr Larissa Hjorth E: [email protected] ! ! ! ! ! ! ! iii Statement of Authorship This thesis contains no material which has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma in any tertiary institution, and that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, contains no material previously published or written by another person, except where due reference is made in the text of this thesis. Joshua Nettheim 24 October 2013 ! ! v Abstract This thesis will utilise the notion of “Remediation” forwarded by Jay David Bolter and Richard Grusin to examine contemporary theatre practice in terms of the “fourth-wall”. The fourth-wall was first introduced by Denis Diderot in his 1758 “Discours Sur La Poésie Dramatique” (Poetics of the Drama) and can be defined as the non-physical boundary that exists between performers and audiences in a live theatrical event. The fourth-wall was initially forwarded as a device within realist theatre, offering a “window” into the action occurring on stage. Here, the fourth-wall will be viewed—in remedial terms—as an “interface” unique to the live performance medium of theatre. As an interface, the fourth-wall has been pivotal in both traditional screen and new media development within live theatre. With new media like mobile phones and online media increasingly being deployed within contemporary theatre and vice versa through groups such as Blast Theory, Avatar Body Collision, The Wooster Group, and Not Yet It’s Difficult this thesis seeks to contribute to the growing dialogue between new media, performance and theatre studies. As a performance artist, this thesis seeks to contribute to practical implications of new media within performance and theatre. ! ! For Tim, who won’t get to read this. For everyone else, who just might. ! ! ! Contents Statement of Authorship iii Abstract v List of Figures xi Acknowledgments xiii Introduction 1 1. Re: Remediation 7 2. The Intangible Interface: Theatre’s Fourth-Wall 23 3. Black Boxes: Contemporary Theatre and New Media 41 Conclusion 67 Works Cited 71 ! ! xi List of Figures Cover. Paula Court, Hamlet, Photograph, 2012, Long Day’s Journey Into Gatz, www.lastagetimes.com, Web, 18 Oct, 2013. Figure 1. Jeremy Keith, Cuddling with multiple devices, Photograph, 16 Sep. 2011, adactio, www.flickr.com, Web, 18 Oct, 2013. Figure 2. Christopher Locke, Deferovoculae Cellarius, Photograph of Sculpture, 2009, Modern Fossils, Genetolic Research, www.genetology.net, Web, 18 Oct. 2013. Figure 3. Proscenium Arch, Photograph, 05 Dec. 2011, Theatre Auditions Update – Victoria, www.thelowdownunder.com, Web, 18 Oct. 2013. Figure 4. Cinema, Photograph, 11 Nov. 2011, Advertising, www.classiccinemas.com.au, Web, 18 Oct. 2013. Figure 5. Teri R, big ass tv by the bar, Photograph, 26 Aug. 2012, Chickie’s and Pete’s: Photos, www.yelp.com, Web, 18 Oct, 2013. Figure 6. Urban Dream Capsule, Melbourne Capsule, Photograph, 19 Mar. 2006, Images from the Capsule on Day 8, www.urbandreamcapsule.com, 18 Oct. 2013. Figure 7. Tristram Kenton, The Wooster Group, Photograph, n.d., Gardner, Lyn. Edinburgh international festival looks to the New World, Theatre Blog with Lyn Gardner, www.theguardian.com, 17 Mar. 2010. Web. 18 Oct. 2013. Figure 8. John Houlihan, The Black Box, Photograph of Theatre Space, 2010, Our Building and Facilities, www.york.ac.uk, Web, 18 Oct. 2013. ! xii Figures ! Figure 9. Gob Squad, Room Service, Photograph, n.d., Current Projects, www.gobsquad.com, Web, 18 Oct. 2013. Figure 10. Gob Squad, On the Phone, Still From Room Service Promotional Video, 2003, Videos, www.gobsquad.com, Web, 18 Oct. 2013. Figure 11. Gob Squad, Audience Perspective, Still From Room Service Promotional Video, 2003, Videos, www.gobsquad.com, Web, 18 Oct. 2013. Figure 12. Sarah Krulwich, Sleep No More, Photograph, n.d., Daily Delight: The Set of Sleep No More, www.blog.hgtv.com, 18 Oct. 2013. Figure 13. Yaniv Schulman and Robin Roemer, Sleep No More Masks, Photograph, 22 May 2013, Off Broadway Theater Review: SLEEP NO MORE, www.stageandcinema.com, Web, 18 Oct. 2013. Figure 14. Leslie Horn, Augmented Sleep No More Mask, Photograph, 01/06/2012, Sleep No More: What It's Like Inside the World's Most Interactive Play, www.gizmodo.com, Web, 18 Oct. 2013. Figure 15. Myrto Koumarianos and Cassandra Silver, Online Companion World, Photograph, 20 May 2012, Dashing at a Nightmare: Haunting Macbeth in Sleep No More, TDR: The Drama Review 57.1 (2013): 167–175. Print. ! xiii Acknowledgements Thanks to everyone in no particular order—until the end. Brother, housemate, best mate, for always getting it and keeping me healthy in body, if not in mind. Mum, for persistence in love and deed. Dad, for phone tennis and Patrick Stewart. My late Nanna, for the funding. Adrian, for getting me started with an appropriate closing. Neal, for calling me out but always explaining why—even if its just “Picture?”. Danielle, for loving it—but making me do it backwards. Will, Anna, and Stuart, for feeding a defector… The Collective Futures Lab, for sharing yours and shaping mine. The Consilience Crew 2013, for taking the leap with me. Study Team 2K13, for jokes, sunshine and red ink. The DERC, for taking in a stray and giving him a home—with a desk! The Coast Crew, for my roots, even after a lifetime away. The Melbourne Crew, for understanding my hibernation. The Workmates, for leave, laughs and loads of free coffee. But most of all, my humblest thanks go to the wonderful Larissa Hjorth. I know I’m supposed to put you first but this is truly saving the best for last. Supervisor, surrogate parent, editor, tea giver, fastest email respondent on Earth, artist, gamer, free library, motivator. If it weren’t for you this wouldn’t exist. Words aren’t close, but since I (finally) settled on a thesis they’ll have to do, right? Your patience, guidance and unbelievable positivity has made this possible—and given me a thirst for more! If, one day, I can be half of what you’ve been for me, everyone will be better off. Thank me? You’re crazy. Thank you. ! ! Introduction 1 INTRODUCTION The idea of ‘new media’ captures both the development of unique forms of digital media, and the remaking of more traditional media forms to adopt and adapt to the new media technologies. Indeed, the lines between ‘new’ and ‘old’ media are hard to draw. (Flew 11) In fact, as we shall see, what you cannot see is often the most significant thing about digital aesthetics. (Cubitt 24) In this respect, new media is post-media or meta-media, as it uses old media as its primary material. (Manovich “New” 23) New media, it turns out, is a very old tale. (Liu 3) The term “new media” has undergone considerable change over the last half-century, moving from Marshall McLuhan’s description of electronic/electric media to today’s convergent media as part of many everyday practices (Flew 17; McLuhan 58; Pingree and Gittleman xi). Whether viewed in McLuhan’s terms or in the contemporary context, new media continues to be distinctly defined for its ability to store, translate, and transmit information with increased speed, crossing time, and distance and increasing options for individual participation and interaction in the process ! 2 Remediating the Fourth Wall ! (Chun 1; Flew 17; McLuhan 58). With the rise of ubiquitous technologies like smartphones, debates around notions of new media and its place within everyday life and the arts has continued to provide much contestation (Bishop n.p.) In particular, contemporary new media is characterised by Web 2.0 practices such as user created content (UCC), collaboration and participatory media (Jenkins “Convergence Culture”). As noted in the opening quotes, while much of the content of “new” media is old (figure 1), the process of digitalisation produces different content, contexts and affects. A photograph on the desk is not the same as a photograph on the desktop. The former is discrete, while the latter is continuous. Figure 1. Jeremy Keith, Cuddling with multiple devices, Photograph, 16 Sep. 2011, adactio, www.flickr.com, Web, 18 Oct, 2013. Introduction 3 While the digital technology that new media utilises is undoubtedly what has made it so “new”—especially compared to analog(ue) art/media formats of film, television, theatre, or print—the desires behind the introduction of any “new” media type and its ability to extend the ways we share information and experiences apparently remain constant (Ames and Naaman 975; Meyrowitz 57). Much new media discourse addresses not what is new about new media, but rather its uniqueness in terms of what we do with it, how we use it. Although new media theories clearly present some differences, they also share some commonalities regardless of approach. New media as a concept, interdisciplinary field, and a set of practices is both contested and divergent. As the opening quotes demonstrate, new media as a definition is always in flux, a perpetual reworking and recontextualisation of more traditional media through the lens of the digital. With the rise of smartphones heralding a new generation of haptic (touch) interfaces, the impact of new media within many everyday life contexts is palpable. From devices like smartphones (and pirate copies such as China’s shanzhai) to tablets, new media has become haptic as it has become mobile. These mobile devices—with their uneven and yet prevalent uptake globally—usher in new media avenues, participatory tools and apps (mobile applications) once only accessible to those with technological savvy.