ABSTRACT
This instance involves an analysis of the impact of new media technologies on the theatrical performance of Canadian actor-director Robert Lepage in The Andersen Project (2005). 52 It explores the actor’s function in relation to notions of hybridity (← term: hybridity) and proposes the concept of a “mediaphoric body”. Lepage is a pioneer in the presentation of live performance that uses different sorts of technology. The integration of digital media into theatre brings about a complex transformation from the standpoint of the actor and his craft. Technological objects and devices become integral to the composition of the actor’s performance. Various types of media interact with traditional components of the actor’s repertoire, including his presence, his manner of expressing and reading emotions, and his connection to his role. Indeed, the impact upon the nature of characterisation in the staging as a whole has required a redefinition of the composition of acting through a postdramatic perspective (Pavis 2005, 91). Here, the actor appears as operator of the stage who ensures the aesthetic transitions between the theatrical and other technological media, both digital and analogue.
