My transdisciplinary research is at the intersection of theatre, audiences and digital technologies. Informed by theatre studies, media studies, affective methodologies, and information technology theories, my multimodal research investigates the impact of digital theatre technologies on contemporary cultural life.
My research with audiences is multimodal and recognises, as Gunther Kress does, that multimodality is “the normal state of human communication.” The qualitative data collection tools I use are audience-focused, including rehearsal observation, pre-performance interviews with performers and creatives, performance observation of live performance and video documentation, post-performance interviews with creatives and performers, and post-performance interviews, activities and workshops with audience members in ways that can be described as dramaturgical.
By paying attention to theatre that engages with young people who have grown up ‘networked,’ my gaze as a researcher has been drawn to the thematisation of digital content and the integration of digital technology into the contemporary stage. Audience members use their experience with everyday digital elements to connect with performance works made ‘post’ the digital. I am interested in how everyday digital technologies have shaped how we view digital ‘bodies’ (interactive projections, motion capture, smartphone-delivered audio, computer-human interactions, or augmented reality). Acting with presence, they are afforded subjectivity and agency and act as additional bodies in concert with their human co-performers.