Michael Allen Launches CALL OF THE VOID Online Theatre Company
By: A.A. Cristi Mar. 23, 2020
Theatre maker and anthropologist Michael Allen is leading the way again with a new theatre company online.
CALL OF THE VOID is a live online Vlog (video blog) hosted by award winning theatre maker and anthropologist Michael Allen. In it he works through some of the technical and aesthetic challenges to making theatre online.
"I've been working on this stuff for around 7 years now. Up until about a week ago it was considered a novelty, or at best a thing that wouldn't be in our lives for a long time. But all that has changed since the beginning of March."
Suddenly but not unexpectedly, everyone is looking to online to keep creative and turn a dollar. But how exactly? Is it as simple as turning on Facebook live?
"Well strictly speaking yes, it is. Nearly every social media platform has ways and means of live interaction. But as I found in my creative research, the rules of theatre do not apply and so you need to develop new structures of performance, new online venues and new plays."
"the single biggest shift is that fourth wall has vanished. Online is a democratised space where audience has much more power over an event, telling a fixed narrative arc of a regular play will not work in this environment. Sure, if you just want to watch a movie of a play that's fine, but if you want to really make theatre drama that is 'of' the lived experience online, then you need to adapt some fundamental theatre principles."
It's a complex world and Michael has started 'Call of the Void' as a live video blog where people can ask questions and hear explanations about how theatre online can be made.
"it started out as me really just verbalising the thoughts in my head as I was working through writing my thesis. But as with these things, its slowly getting some traction, and then in the last week or so I have been swamped with queries from workplace trainers, advertising and other theatre companies, all wanting to know more and know quickly.
Anyone from anywhere in the world can be a part of theatre in the new millennium. Or as Michael likes to call it; Theatre of the 4th Dimension.
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Watch on any internet device that can stream live video
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Watch from anywhere in the world
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Follow the TWITTER hashtag #webtheatre
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Interact with the performance
Michael is a PhD research candidate with the University of Adelaide.
https://www.patreon.com/MAPT4D
https://vimeo.com/michaelallenproductions
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