Theatrical Intelligence

Von Stefan Kaegi

Barcelona, Sala Beckett – Obrador Internacional de Dramatúrgia
05. – 09.07.2021

This course will be taught in person. If ultimately it is not possible to hold it at the Sala Beckett, it will be cancelled.

Can theatre be an open world like certain VR games? How do we script decision-trees? How can performances react to the digital challenge?
Artificial intelligence often appears in science fiction as something alien, threatening our species, though it is invented by humans. Since its origins, theatre has been trying to anticipate human emotions and prepare tools to manipulate them as algorithms do. The use of illusion-technologies in theatre dates back to a time way before the invention of the first computers. What’s new in this relationship is the way in which A.I. tackles spectators in interactive scripts ─ supposedly wrapped around highly individualized target groups.
This workshop tries to understand how low-tech algorithms could be scripted and made productive in simple game-structures, audiotours and other forms of immersive performance.