Research

TITLE

Do live broadcasts ruin the ‘magic’ of theatre?

 

The essay will explore what the magic of theatre is and include sources that discuss it.  I will also look at some barriers that might prevent live streaming being successful. The essay will also look at evidence that live broadcasting has a positive effect

 

It is essential that I critically evaluate any resources that I use from the web. To do this I will be using the CRAAP method as detailed below: 

The sources for my research include books, newspapers, academic and professional journals and websites

 

References:

 

1

‘To enter a theatre for a performance is to be inducted into a magical space, to be ushered into the sacred arena of the imagination’ – Simon Callow

(Callow S 2012) Charles Dickens and the Great Theatre of the World (ed. Vintage, 2012) - ISBN: 9780345803245

 

I have used this as the opening of my essay.  It is a quote from a very well respected actor and gives an in site of the magic of theatre from a professional actors point of view

 

2

'the only thing that all forms of theatre have in common is the need for an audience' (Brook 1996)

Peter Brook (1996) The Empty Space. Cambridge. Simon and Schuster

 

This has been used to help reinforce the belief that theatre is different from other art presentations as it needs a live audience.  Peter Brook is a theatre and film director and has won many awards.

 

3

From the 16th century onward, the rise of illusionism in staging practices, which culminated in the realism and naturalism of the theatre of the 19th century, led to the development of the fourth wall concept (Bell 2008).

Bell, Elizabeth S. (2008). Theories of Performance. Sage. p. 203. ISBN 978-1-4129-2637-9.

 

I have used this to reinforce the belief that theatre needs an audience.  It expands on this by introducing the concept of the 4^th wall.  The author was an actor that went on to become a mentor for Central School students as well as an external examiner for Trinity College London.

 

4

 

“It is an extraordinary, wonderful complement to the experience of seeing opera and ballet live,” says the CEO of the Royal Opera House, Alex Beard. “It’s emphatically not a substitute for being there (cited in Burton Hill 2015)  

Clemency Burton Hill (2015) Is watching opera in the cinema just as good? Available at https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20150114-opera-in-the-cinema-blasphemy

 

This quote draws the reader towards the positive side of the argument but pulls them back slightly with the last statement.  It has been taken from a BBC article and the author is an English broadcaster, author, novelist, journalist and violinist.

 

5

 

“Performance cannot be saved, recorded, documented once it does so, it becomes something other than performance.” ( Phelan 2004)   

Phelan P (2004) The politics and Performance. 4^th edn. Routledge

 

This will form the basis of my argument in my essay. Phelan's work is primarily concerned with the investigation of performance as a live event. She has written extensively on the subject of live theatre and in my essay I have quoted her work to make a bold statement about the magic of theatre being lost in live broadcasting

 

6

 

‘live actors on stage in front of a live audience’ (Jellicoe 1967)

Jellicoe, Ann (1967) Some Unconscious Influences in the Theatre. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

 

This piece of work by Jellicoe was a short essay. In a space of about thirty pages, she devises a number of complex yet common-sense theories which account for the reasons why audiences react to stage and screen as they do.  These theories are important and helps reinforce Phelans ideas.

 

7

 

“the magic of live theatre” is just a simple cliché – and that ‘liveness’ is always context-specific. (Auslander 2008 ) 

Auslander P (2008) Liveness: Performance in a Mediatized Culture Routledge

 

This will be used as a counter argument to source 5. Philip Auslander teaches performance studies at the Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of Georgia. His research interests include performance theory, performance and technology, and popular music. He is the author of six books, including Liveness: Performance in a Mediatized Culture and Performing Glam Rock: Gender and Theatricality in Popular Music.

 

8

 

“It may be that we are now at a point in history at which liveness can no longer be defined in terms of either the presence of living human beings before each other or physical and temporal relationships.” (Auslander 2012)

Philip Auslander (2012), “Digital Liveness: A Historico-Philosophical Perspective,” PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art 34.3 (2012): 6.

 

This is an important turning point in the argument and opens other arguments on the need for the audience in theatre.

9

 

Liveness’ can be communicated successfully through satellite transmission of live theatre, and audiences value this unique atmosphere. The report went on to say that whilst ‘actual’ or simultaneous liveness may not be critical, capturing the sense of event and the atmosphere of the live performance may enhance the audience’s experience (NESTA 2011).

Nesta (2011) Digital broadcast of theatre Learning from the pilot season

https://www.nesta.org.uk/publications/reports/assets/features/culture_of_innovation/

 

I have used this part of the NESTA report to bring in the positives of live broadcasts and goes someway to answering the essay question

 

10

 

While everyone should have access to the performing arts, our expensive world tends to wrongfully characterize them as exclusive through expensive ticket prices. Fortunately, streaming artistic performances promotes accessibility. (Cohen 2020.) 

Sasha Cohen (2020) The Pros and Cons of Streaming Performance. Washington Square News

 

This introduces an alternative viewpoint to the positives of streaming. This will be used to argue the point that streaming does not ruin the magic. Cohen is a journalist with the Washington Square News. Founded in 1973 after New York University’s University Heights and Washington Square campuses merged, Washington Square News delivers news daily to thousands of readers around NYU’s Manhattan and Brooklyn campuses, Greenwich Village, Brooklyn Heights, NYU’s 12 global campuses and beyond

 

11

 

‘It’s not the same experience, not a communal experience, not an event. It cheapens it.’ (Reidy et al. 2016: 55). 

Reidy, B. K., B. Schutt, D. Abramson and A. Durski (11 October 2016), ‘From Live-to-Digital: Understanding the Impact of Digital Developments in Theatre on Audiences, Production and Distribution’ (2016), Arts Council England. Available online: http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/publication/live-digital (accessed 4 April 2017)

 

This source will be used to argue that the magic is lost with live performance streaming.  It provides a strong one sentence statement. 

It is taken from a report from the Arts Council England. Arts Council England is a non-departmental public body of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It was formed in 1994 when the Arts Council of Great Britain was divided into three separate bodies for England, Scotland and Wales. 

 

 

 

 

for a complicated one (plus satellite costs).  However, it is pointed out that the screening of The Audience (Helen Mirren again) earned £590,000 in Australia alone.   Not all productions might be as popular as this however. National Theatre Live Broadcasts - costs and audience numbers, food for thought for ballet transmissions
By Lynette H,
November 6, 2013 in 
November 6, 2013 in Performances seen & general discussions