«More Presence on Stage»

To see means to decide: on the impact of video on the theatre, the doubled view with the camera, and different functions of video on stage.

by Thomas Oberender


Translated by Johannes Birringer, 
From the special issue «Theatre und Video,» in: Theater Heute, April 2004, pp.19 — 26.

 

 

One of the fascinations of theatre is the attempt of its actors to create an event (something that happens in the moment), something event-ful, which at the same time it threatens to destroy in the process of production. Often plays and performances seem to aim at a very particular, unique moment, in which something very «real» takes place. This heightened moment appears as a particular accomplishment of something that has been rehearsed and planned, and now suddenly is transformed into a moment of revealing evidence. The essential ambition of each artform is probably directed at the production of such moments which are not producible in a calculated manner.