Visualising Lost Theatres: Virtual Praxis and the Recovery of Performance Spaces

Joanne Tompkins; Julie Holledge; Jonathan Bollen; Liyang Xia

doi:10.1017/9781108583800

This pioneering study harnesses virtual reality to uncover the history of five venues that have been 'lost' to us: London's 1590s Rose Theatre; Bergen's mid-nineteenth-century Komediehuset; Adelaide's Queen's Theatre of 1841; circus tents hosting Cantonese opera performances in Australia's goldfields in the 1850s; and the Stardust showroom in 1950s Las Vegas. Shaping some of the most enduring genres of world theatre and cultural production, each venue marks a significant cultural transformation, charted here through detailed discussion of theatrical praxis and socio-political history. Using virtual models as performance laboratories for research, Visualising Lost Theatres recreates the immersive feel of venues and reveals performance logistics for actors and audiences. Proposing a new methodology for using visualisations as a tool in theatre history, and providing 3D visualisations for the reader to consult alongside the text, this is a landmark contribution to the digital humanities.

Visualising Lost Theatres makes a major contribution to the fields of both Theatre Studies and Digital Humanities. Readers are invited to imagine anew the 'lost' theatres of the book's title, from the Rose in 1590s London to the Stardust Hotel in 1950s Las Vegas. The authors' use of digital tools and methods to explore those venues allows them to offer new ways to understand canonical figures such as Shakespeare and Ibsen, while also highlighting the importance of other forms of live performance such as Cantonese opera. The book ranges across many fields – architecture, tourism, digital culture heritage, translation, and more – but its contribution to Theatre Studies is particularly immense, not just expanding what we know but providing new tools and methods for future research.

Patrick Lonergan Source: NUI Galway

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Visualising Lost Theatres

Virtual Praxis and the Recovery of Performance Spaces

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Contents

Visualising Lost Theatres
pp i-ii

Cambridge Studies in Modern Theatre - Series page
pp iii-iv

Visualising Lost Theatres - Title page
pp v-v

Copyright page
pp vi-vi

Contents
pp vii-vii

Figures
pp viii-ix

Acknowledgements
pp x-xii

Introduction
pp 1-14

1 - The Rose Theatre, London, and Stage Movement in Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus
pp 15-37

2 - Komediehuset, Bergen, and Henrik Ibsen’s Stagecraft in His First Theatre
pp 38-65

3 - A Colonial Audience Watching Othello at the Queen’s Theatre, Adelaide
pp 66-95

4 - Cantonese Opera and the Layering of Space on the Australian Goldfields
pp 96-126

5 - The Design of Attraction at the Stardust Showroom in Las Vegas
pp 127-159

Conclusion: Visualising the Future of Theatre Research
pp 160-167

Appendix: - The Eighteen Scripts of the Underworld
pp 168-179

References
pp 180-199

Index
pp 200-206

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Visualising Lost Theatres

Virtual Praxis and the Recovery of Performance Spaces

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