I don’t know if anyone caught this Guardian article on Artsjournal.com in the last day or so. The story covers, Play on Earth, an effort by performance groups on three continents to create and interactively perform with one another with the help of technology. I had previously mentioned a related effort by MIT in an entry a couple years ago.
The Guardian article presents what may be a preview of the format the performing arts may take in the future. It seems quite ripe with possibility. It could be exciting to see how directors might exploit the real time chronological differences in clever ways.
The danger element inherent to having separate directors and casts who have never met each other might provide a draw to audiences as an alternative to the well-edited movie or television show. We often talk about one of the appeals of live performance being that anything can happen and this certainly reintroduces that concept. The irony is, it is the instability of network connection that contributes to this sense that catastrophe may be imminent. As technology improves, performances may have to up the ante in other areas to maintain the ambiance.