Staging the Virtual/Virtualising the Stage: From Theory to Practice

Abstract

This paper examines the interrelated practices of virtual theatre and video art. The first part establishes the contextual and methodological framework by considering how the so-called ‘virtual turn’ has shaped modes of authorship in contemporary theatre and video art. In doing so, it identifies and explores two central concepts within these fields: embodiment and spatiality. The second part presents two case studies. First, MDLSX and Chroma Keys, by the theatre company Motus, demonstrate how live performance within a virtual environment can unsettle the cultural legibility of the body and expose the performer as both material presence and mediated image. Second, Trilogia degli Infiniti Mondi, by the cultural association AltroSguardo, opens up a discussion on genre categorisation, as it appears to introduce theatrical elements into the two-dimensional realm of video art, thereby encouraging a reshaping and shifting of categories and definitions.