Convergence and Creativity in Telematic Performance: The Adding Machine

Abstract

Between December 2005 and March 2007, the Department of Theatre Arts and the Multimedia Program at Bradley University, USA; the University of Waterloo, Canada; and the University of Central Florida, USA developed a unique theatrical enterprise that encompassed four creative artists, over one hundred students from seven academic departments, and an array of sophisticated rendering and communication technology. The fully mediatized production of Elmer Rice’s expressionistic play The Adding Machine integrated virtual scenery, live, real-time telematic performances facilitated via Internet2, recorded composite video, avatar performers, photographs, graphics and sound. This paper reports and analyses some of the artistic, dramaturgical, and technical discoveries made from the production and offers some theoretical insights about convergent telematic performances.

Keywords

• Telematic performances
• teleconferencing