Virtual Theatre
“This is why virtual theatre is so important right now. It is a symbol of the darkness that has fallen on the performing arts community and yet, it will fuel a return to the stage that will take everybody by surprise.”
The 2021 Theatrical Experience: Virtual Theatre
"Audience at Humanities Theatre" by batmoo is licensed with CC BY-SA 2.0; "Humanities Theatre in Hagey Hall" by batmoo is licensed with CC BY-SA 2.0.
Theatre was once a transformative art, with hundreds of audience members packed into an auditorium for a shared emotional moment. This experience was desired by thousands of theatre-goers each year. However, in March 2020, when the Coronavirus pandemic began, all theatres, from various black box rooms to Broadway, were forced to halt production. While performers and audiences watched as performance cancellations went from temporary to indefinite, the theatre community was forced to channel their art in a new form: virtual theatre. This shift towards a virtual format is the defining aspect of theatre in 2021 and there are many different facets of changes that can be examined. How has virtual theatre impacted the mental health of performers? How has the lack of in-person production hurt the audience experience? Will any of the hardships created by virtual theatre have long-lasting effects in a post-pandemic world? All of these questions will be examined and will unveil a medley of hardships that the performing arts community endured this past year. While these hard times have been a challenge for the arts industry, virtual theatre has also rooted theatre in its core values of ambition, community, and comfort. It has inspired greater depth in performers and solidified theatre’s role as comfort for many people. As such, the many troubles associated with virtual theatre will make the return of live theatre more powerful than it ever was before the pandemic.
What is Virtual Theatre?
"Dolls From the Sky-Busselton Repertory Club Virtual Theatre" by busselton libraries is licensed with CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
To understand the implications of this switch to a virtual environment virtual theatre must be defined explicitly. The term encompasses a range of art as stated by Vinson Cunningham who defined virtual theatre as “a sprawling category, more experiential than formal, which ranges from high-quality performance recordings … to staticky live Zooms, and is unified as a genre only by its reliance on Wi-Fi” (Cunningham). In other words, any sort of performance that is viewed second-hand on a device, as opposed to in-person, can be considered virtual theatre. While recordings of live performances have been around for years, this is the first time that all performances have had to rely solely on this virtual format. Cunningham’s idea that the only thing that unifies virtual theatre is “its reliance on Wi-Fi”, accentuates the amount of creativity there is within the theatre community. There is only one unifying factor because everyone puts their own spin on production. This means that the virtual form gives artists a chance to express their creativity in unique ways; a skill that will improve creativity in the return to live theatre as well. The virtual format does present a myriad of problems for the community though. One of which being the newfound responsibilities for different roles in the production. Clare Chandler, one of the authors of “‘Does Anybody Have A Map?’: The Impact of ‘Virtual Broadway’ on Musical Theater Composition”, explains how the virtual theatre “mind-set is shifting the power dynamics between producers and consumers, creators, and audiences, and causing a decentralization and digitization of musical theater, which is impacting form and structure” (Chandler). By moving theatre from the stage to the screen, the production process shifts dramatically because everyone is in charge of their own space. With that decentralization, comes a change in job description resulting in new responsibilities for each cast member. As such, virtual theatre productions require a can-do attitude as everyone has to learn new skills for the show to be effective. While this is a taxing shift, it will ingrain a work ethic in performers that will enhance live productions immensely. If all performers channel their newfound responsibility into live productions later, preparation will become much more involved, enhancing the performances themselves. Thus, although virtual theatre comes with many challenges, including the fact that the production team must define their form before they embark on creating their virtual art, it is these challenges that will inspire a better return to the stage.
Mental Health Effects on Performing Artists
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Unfortunately, the coronavirus pandemic and the resulting increase in virtual theatre have taken a severe toll on the mental health of performing artists. While theatre used to be filled with the immediate reassurance of audience applause and laughter, performers are now meant to imagine reactions as the audience hides behind their mute settings. For actors, what was once a team effort has become an isolated expression. As explained by Alex Roe, comparing live and virtual theatre, “or, worse, hoping that one may be an approximation of the other is inviting despair” (Roe). As such, it is important to understand that the mental health of performing artists was not saved from the presence of virtual theatre at this time. Virtual theatre is an attempt for performing artists to channel their passion in a new form; it is not a replacement for live theatre. The electricity of in-person theatre, fueled by an artist's reliance “on their bodies to express their art” (Stuckey et al.) cannot be replaced by a 5-centimeter Zoom screen box. Not only is the lack of full-body performance frustrating for the performer, but virtual theatre has increased the amount of responsibility that each actor must carry. According to Roe, “an actor whose character is entering a Bowery salon to see her estranged lover after a long time is now thinking about clicking “Video On”(Roe), instead of preparing to step into character. In other words, artists are no longer allowed to focus solely on their performance as they could before, they now have to carry the extra weight of technological function. These extra fictional responsibilities “can be nearly ruinously distracting” (Roe) for the artist and can take away from the enjoyment of the performance. This line of thinking is similar to Cunningham’s in that the actor has more responsibility than they bargained for.
While this tragedy cannot be overlooked, some members of the theatre community are looking forward to using their experience of isolation to fuel their performances in the future. In fact, John Luciew, author of “Actors: 'Raw Emotions' From COVID-19 to Fuel Drama for Years”, thinks that because “actors will have bottled up a wellspring of emotions from the coronavirus experience, a raw reservoir [will be] ready to be tapped when they’re finally back on stage” (Luciew). The mental health struggle in performing artists will inspire a greater depth in performances. In other words, although the pandemic has closed the curtains for over a year, they will re-open with a new fire for that very same reason.
Effect on Audience Members
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The switch to virtual theatre has not only affected performing artists though, it has also taken its toll on audience members who can no longer experience the magic of live theatre themselves. Vinsen Cunningham says it best as he explains that the pandemic “forces us to watch plays alone, in the crannies of our homes, instead of drawing us into proximity with strangers” (Cunningham). There is no aspect of coming together to view a show anymore. Audiences do not leave the theatre having shared an emotional experience with the stranger who sat next to them. Instead, audience members watch plays alone, experiencing the entire range of emotions on their lonesome. Surprisingly, the bond between audience members is a large part of the draw of theatre for many people. Audience members often “share selfies, create fan performances, make fan art… [and] publicize their experience of, and connection to, the musical” (Chandler). It is more than just theatre, it is an overall experience that they are excited to commemorate and share, something that cannot be done as easily with virtual theatre.
However, virtual theatre has had some positive effects on audiences as well. While live theatre can be expensive, the pandemic inspired a sudden “proliferation of virtual theatrical content, most of which was available for free” (Chandler). This means that, although a lot of the bonding experience was lost in the virtual format, for the first time theatre is equitable and available for a lot more people. Those who could never afford the experience of live shows can connect with the virtual options, perhaps inspiring a more equitable approach to live theatre in the future. On top of that, the virtual experience can be extremely unique for the audience. In the auditorium, there is a clear separation between the stage and the seats, but in the virtual format, this distance is much less concrete. As a virtual theatre attendee himself, Cunningham recaps his experience while watching a play where he was asked to answer questions by the actors. In his words, after the quick exchange with the actor “ [he] could feel [his] own presence, and imagined that [his] expression… was subtly influencing Guevara’s performance, that [he] was the unspeaking scene partner in an acting exercise” (Cunningham). In Cunningham’s experience, as well as many others, the audience member is not just a spectator, they are a member of the scene and as such, have increased responsibility along with the actor at home. While this may not make up for the lack of audience interaction, it establishes an enhanced theatrical experience, which increases interest in attending live productions in the future.
Strengthening Theatre’s Core Values
Although this transition from live to virtual theatre has presented an assortment of challenges for the entire performing arts community, the work ethic and passion needed to make this transition is inspiring. The many hours of tech lessons, adaptation to new responsibilities, and increased anxiety have proven that “resourcefulness and ambition still thrive” (Roe) in the theatre community; two values that are at the core of performance art. Yet, what is even more inspirational is the way that virtual theatre brought people together in a time when they were forced to be apart. As best said by Alex Roe, “the technical solutions to Zoom performance challenges, contrived to create the illusion of presence, emblazon live performance’s greatest powers: to bring us together and affirm we are not separate, but connected” (Roe). Virtual theatre is a form of connection for the arts community, one that thousands of people continue to rely on to survive the pandemic. As such, theatre’s place as a source of comfort has not been decreased, but rather accentuated during the pandemic.
Looking Forward
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Perhaps its connection to its values is what makes virtual theatre so special. Or maybe it is the fact that theatre found a way to stay alive during a time when everyone was apart. And while there is no denying that this transition to a virtual format is not easy, not a replacement, and not a solution, it is what is holding the community together right now as COVID 19 restrictions still exist in 2021. As Luciew says, virtual theatre is “the common denominator that will bond performers and audience members during future theater experiences will be the shared experience of COVID-19. Ironically, it’s the same force that’s been keeping them apart and isolated this past year” (Luciew). This dark time will eventually fuel togetherness in live theatre in a way that has never been seen before. This is why virtual theatre is so important right now. It is a symbol of the darkness that has fallen on the performing arts community and yet, it will fuel a return to the stage that will take everybody by surprise.
Works Cited
Chandler, Clare, and Simeon Scheuber-Rush. “‘Does Anybody Have A Map?’: The Impact of
‘Virtual Broadway’ on Musical Theater Composition.” The Journal of Popular Culture, vol. 54, no. 2, 2021, pp. 276-300. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jpcu.13013
Cunningham, Vinson. “How Are Audiences Adapting to the Age of Virtual Theatre?” The New
Yorker, www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/10/12/how-are-audiences-adapting-to-the-age-of-virtual-theatre.
Luciew, John. “Actors: 'Raw Emotions' From COVID-19 to Fuel Drama for Years.” U.S. News &
World Report, U.S. News & World Report,
Roe, Alex. "Port in a Storm: Arriving at a Virtual Theatre Through the Pandemic of 2020."
Eugene O'Neill Review, vol. 42 no. 1, 2021, p. 54-63. Project MUSE muse.jhu.edu/article/787242.
Stuckey, Melanie, et al. “Supporting Holistic Wellbeing for Performing Artists During the
COVID-19 Pandemic and Recovery: Study Protocol.” Frontiers in Psychology,
vol. 4, Feb. 2021, www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.577882/full