Theater of Lockdown

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Offering a scholarly examination of digital and distanced performance since the global theater shutdown in March 2020, Barbara Fuchs records the changes and provides a framework for understanding theater's transformation. Born of necessity, recent productions have created a new world of practice, utilizing platforms like Zoom, WhatsApp, and Instagram, and incorporating filters and augmented reality. These innovations have led to urban distanced theater that enlivens streetscapes and building courtyards, largely outside the commercial theater realm. This shift transcends geographic and financial barriers, granting access to new audiences and providing a lifeline to artists. The study explores how virtual theater challenges existing assumptions and definitions, transforming theater-making and viewership. It examines how participatory, site-specific, or devised theater is altered by physical-distancing requirements, how digital productions blur the line between film and theater, and what liveness means during a pandemic. Through seven chapters, the focus is on digital and distanced productions from the Americas, Europe, and Australia, featuring scholarly analysis and interviews. Notable productions include Theater in Quarantine's "closet work" in New York, Forced Entertainment's End Meeting for All, and the work of Madrid-based company Grumelot, among others.