Video… Does it enhance a performance or distract?
Does video enhance a performance or does it distract from the real aim of the piece?
This is a question which I have been debating recently.
As Production Manager, my initial idea for the opening of the show was to project a short video which would ‘set the scene’ for the performance. Using animation software, my aim was to create a Progeny Theatre storybook, that would open up to reveal the title of our show A Gothic Tale this would then fade into a journey through a dark, snowy forest leading to a Gothic castle shrouded in mist and mystery, similar to the videos below, which have been created by the general public.
Sigrid Merx explains that: “When video is employed within the theatrical frame, there is a potential for the static space of theatre to become more dynamic” ((Merx, Segrid (2006) ‘Swan’s way: video and theatre as an intermedial stage for the representation of time’ in Chapple, Freda and Chiel Kattenbelt Intermediality in Theatre and Performance. Amsterdam: IFTR. p.71)). However, as much as our company enjoyed the idea of building an atmosphere using visual technology, one major concern was whether this took away from the magic of the theatre experience rather than adding to it. The audience will have come to the theatre to watch a play, not a film.
Of course, an important element to Progeny Theatre’s Manifesto is that we are ‘tech heavy’ and enjoy the use of elaborate technical devices to enhance our productions but where does the line stand between film and theatre? How much technology can you throw at a theatrical performance before it no longer is ‘theatre’?
With this in mind, our production team have adjusted their focus onto more stage based technologies such as haze and smoke machines and creative set in order to mesmerise our audience. We want to encourage the audience to become more of an active participant in the theatre experience, rather than a passive ‘watcher’, by drawing them in with numerous visual delights.
Word Count: 340
Kate Dawson.
Works Cited