ABSTRACT
COVID-19 has created conditions in which a sudden and radical shift has been required in live performance. Within these conditions how can liveness be preserved in this mediated, digital space? This chapter argues that one strategy might be the relocation of liveness from performers’ labour to that of the spectator, whose engagement is both active and agential. This consideration of liveness is substantiated through Eugenio Barba’s positing of three dramaturgies present in all performances – the organic, the narrative, and the evocative. Evocative dramaturgy is specifically explored via several modes of audience experience including make-believe (Kendall Walton), transportation (Richard Gerrig), immersion/interaction (Marie Laure-Ryan), and metaphor (Dan Rebellato). Mars Exploration: May 22, 1984, a recorded online performance created by the author in the summer of 2020 is then analysed. Emphasis is placed on its use of disjunction and dramaturgical transposition from the organic to the evocative level to offer different experience of liveness designed for and suited to an online space.
