Over the course of the Pandemic the theatre had to adapt to stay alive and Digital Theatre was at the forefront of this.
Digital Theatre is live theatre performed by actors in locations remote from each other, watched by audiences at home via a laptop or tablet. In its infancy digital theatre was very basic however, over the course of twenty four months of Government lockdowns, it evolved to utilise a number of the techniques and software programs used by television and film. Essential to digital theatre though is the liveness of theatre. Audiences have repeatedly spoken about the feeling of intimacy created by watching live theatre in their homes.
My Digital Theatre journey began with a production of the Tempest. This received 4* reviews from the Guardian and the New York Times. From there two companies, Creation Theatre and Big Telly Theatre Co, became the vanguard of Digital Theatre. Productions like Macbeth and Alice in Wonderland received considerable acclaim from critics and audience and led to the establishment of a Digital Rep Company. This Rep Company worked together for 6 months to create four productions, Grimm Tales, The Duchess of Malfi, Romeo and Juliet and Kassandra. I was lucky enough to perform in a number of these and Stage and Production Manage the others. In addition to this I have been lucky enough to work with the Oxford Playhouse and the Roald Dahl Festival on their journey into Digital Theatre. The level of innovation required to work in and develop this new form of theatre has been one of the most exciting opportunities of my career.
The rise of digital theatre has also created considerable interest among the academic community and has led to collaborations with TORCH for Oxford University, the University of Exeter and the University of Brighton. I also collaborated on several academic reports looking at the emergence of Digital Theatre.
If you have any Questions about Digital Theatre please email me via the contact page.