Shakespeare and Digital Performance in Practice

Shakespeare and Digital Performance in Practice explores the impact of digital technologies on the theatrical performance of Shakespeare in the twenty-first century, both in terms of widening cultural access and developing new forms of artistry. Through close analysis of dozens of productions, both high-profile and lesser known, it examines the rise of live broadcasting and recording in the theatre, the growing use of live video feeds and dynamic projections on the mainstream stage, and experiments in born-digital theatre-making, including social media, virtual reality, and video-conferencing adaptations. In doing so, it argues that technologically adventurous performances of Shakespeare allow performers and audiences to test what they believe theatre to be, as well as to reflect on what it means to be present—with a work of art, with others, with oneself—in an increasingly online world. Erin Sullivan is Reader in Shakespeare at the Shakespeare Institute,University of Birmingham, UK. She is co-editor of Lockdown Shakespeare: New Evolutions in Performance and Adaptation (2022) and author of Beyond Melancholy: Sadness and Selfhood in Renaissance England (2016). Her research focuses on the emotional force of Shakespeare’s works, both in his own time and today.