The Drama of Running
Races, especially ones that draw a large number of participants, are incredible spectacles, street theatre on-the-run, with a structure fairly analogous to a ‘well made’ stage play, not to mention the obvious runner/performer spectator/audience aspect. They also create a sense of intimately shared space and human connectedness that relates a lot to what we theatre … Read more
Oh, Max Headroom
Oh, Max. It’s partly your fault…this whole debate about liveness, live arts, media, mediation, mediatization, and so on. Somebody get Max in on a panel discussion. At a thrift store somewhere in America’s Northeast hangs my 10-year old self’s long lost Max Headroom t-shirt. Oh, the number of times I have asked myself why, why, … Read more
In Defense of Live Theatre (conted)
In Defense of Live Theatre (conted) Last month a post by Patrick Healy on the Guardian Theatre blog got me thinking again about liveness, as it relates to the theatre, in ways that I had not in nearly a decade, since I first read Liveness: Performance in a Mediatized Culture (1999) by Philip Auslander. (Here … Read more
Music Videos vs. Live Music
Music Videos vs. Live Music I posted a few days ago on the subject of live stage drama vs. filmed (and even downloadable filmed) stage drama. While checking out some music videos this morning, it occurred to me that music makers face similar, but inverse, challenges to theatre makers. As challenging as it may be … Read more
To Film or Not to Film Live THEE-EH-TAH
To Film or Not to Film Live THEE – EH – TAH I’ve always paused and reflected, when, at the end of a sitcom, a voiceover remarks, “This episode of Three’s Company [or insert your favorite show] “was taped before a live studio audience.” The emphasis on the “liveness” of the audience is intriguing. Would … Read more
