Bowie's Lazarus Leads the Digital Theatre Revolution

Digital technology is now commonplace in big-budget theatre, and is growing ever more sophisticated. In a performance which is simultaneously live and digital, the audience can be transported to an immersive, alternate universe. The question is: does digital theatre over complicate the essential values and meaning of theatre?

During the last couple of years, theatre has been host to a variety of digital pioneers. Of course, some have been more successful than others on a purely superficial level – wonder.land had extensive digital effects, but was criticised for ‘being upstaged by its own visuals’ and ultimately failed to impress. Meanwhile, the recent collaboration between RSC and Intel culminated in an incredibly poetic and multi-dimensional performance of The Tempest which was received well by critics. Director Gregory Doran pulled out all the stops to provide his audience with a dizzying array of interactive screens, projections on shifting layers of fabric and live motion capture to create digital avatars tailored to particular human expressions – think Gollum in Lord of the Rings, but here he’s on stage in front of you rather than inside a movie.

Aladdin: The Musical should also be considered a leap in technology, although its wonders are found more in physical stage tech rather than digital – consider how technology has been utilised to create an incredibly believable flying carpet. Aladdin is a triumph of set design, from constantly shifting set pieces to lifts which push performers through trapdoors and onto the stage at a rate of 12 feet per second. In this case, the flying carpet was created by Jim Steinmeyer, who usually spends his time designing and creating illusions for leading magicians. Intriguingly, the secret of the technology – or, more likely, illusion – behind the flying carpet remains undisclosed to public knowledge, although he has cryptically noted that the feat would not have been possible 10 years ago.

The issue, certainly, is not the capacity of modern theatre to produce fantastical special effects and digital worlds. Digital theatre can offer actors and directors a multitude of new opportunities with which to invite audiences into alternative worlds, and this is most certainly a good thing. The bigger argument is around how to do digital theatre right. One reviewer argues that ‘we don’t go to the theatre to see the world through a lens’ when describing the effect of The Tempest’s use of digital avatars, and she’s right. There is a danger for technology to trample the more simplistic charms of theatre in its quest for ‘cutting edge’ flare – we want to interact with the actors, we want to feel emotion charging the auditorium. Luckily, there are some recent productions holding the torch.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is definitely a play to keep in mind during any discussion around digital theatre. The production uses digital screens and fantastic lighting effects not to paint over the actors on stage, but rather to demonstrate the way the main character thinks. With interactive stage walls and projectors the audience is presented with numbers, diagrams and maps which display the world as a complex mesh of science, which the protagonist finds comforting and relatable. The flesh actors stand out in sharp contrast and become alien and confrontational – the protagonist’s difficulty in understanding emotional human relationships is manifested physically on stage, and has struck a chord with audiences for its presentation of autism.

Another great example of technology and theatre working together would be the late David Bowie’s foray into the theatrical world, Lazarus. The musical is a perfect instance of technology supporting theatre rather than overshadowing it – the actors interact regularly with the screens at the back of the stage, which allow the main character’s rapid transition between past and present and dream and reality to flare with artistic serenity. The on-stage screens are interactive and, in reaction to movements onstage send vivid rushes of colour across the beige set. Technology here is utilized for abstract visual cues which inflate the emotional interactions on stage rather than supress them.

Throughout these victories of modern theatre, we’re treading a fine line between imbuing theatrical energy with additional fire and drowning the subtleties of acting through gadgets. Critics have complained that the excitement of technology is swamping theatre in a manner which values sensation over emotion. Theatre is, at its core, happening in the moment. We are drawn to theatre by the promise of immediacy and emotion – we witness each line of dialogue in the complexities of the actors’ posture and tone. Theatre has always been intimate in a way that cinematic productions lack – The Woman in Black was terrifying and exhilarating with only three members of cast and minimal set design.

Digital theatre is far from finished in its evolution, and with triumphs such as Lazarus and The Curious Incident to reassure us that technology can support and artistically inform physical performance, the future looks bright. But just because we can fill stages with digital glamour, doesn't mean we always should.