While technology may not be THE answer, it may be AN answer. It seems that to help rediscover the theatRE, we need to rediscover the theatER. As times change and as tastes change, the theatre has always been forced to reinvent itself. As members of the information age, we are in constant dialogue with technology. For theatre audiences that may not have been previously conditioned (for whatever reasons) to be in concrete dialogue with theatrical performances, why not take an aspect of life where dialogue is essential for a use value. If we cannot control a computer, then it is no use to us. Likewise, if we--as audience members--have no control/immediate identification with a performance, then it is no use to us, and thusly no use to society.
I've come to the opinion that, for theatre to succeed, the theatre must be like contemporary religions. Theatre has the power to save--to convert--but first the theatre must be welcoming of its patrons. We must offer ways for them to express, perhaps help instead of show, how to express. In techno-babble, traditional performance utilizes actions that work as a closed system: applaud, laugh, sit and observe, get up and leave. If we wish to bring people to action, we must let--and help them--to act in an open-source way. This was the way of the ancients and somehow it has been lost.
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