Setting the Stage: Scholars Propose ‘Interface Theatre’ as New Theatrical Genre
There are so few instances in communal life now where we share the same object of attention in real time. Theatre offers that. It’s a much older way of being together that isn’t necessarily being commodified in the moment, that isn’t being turned into something abstract that then is for sale. — Jacob Gallagher-Ross
Our world is mediated by interfaces; from the apps we use to keep organized to the operating systems that run our devices, these technologies are an integral part of the fabric of our everyday lives. And with each moment that ticks by, our experiences and communications are distilled to become data that is used for corporate profit, state surveillance, and our own self-tracking.
This means we not only curate and perform our virtual selves online — how’s your social media looking lately? — but we play other roles that are being scripted by the data being accumulated about us. Media theorists call these characters ‘data doubles’ that, in ways economic, legal, and then some, may be more real than our real selves.
