Transformation of the Role of the Spectator through the Prism of Features of Digital Representation of Modern Theatre

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to identify the features of the transformation of the role of the spectator in modern theatre in the context of the spatial specificity of digital performance. Research methodology. An analytical, systemic, typological, culturological and structural-functional method was applied to generalise the theoretical and methodological principles of the study of the expansion of space in the context of the digitalisation of modern theatre, to identify the features of the transformation processes of the "actor-spectator" communication. Scientific novelty. The problem of the transformation of the role of the spectator in modern theatre in the context of the spatial specificity of digital performance is investigated; using the example of three separate categories of digital performance (multimedia, telematic and pervasive – according to E. Perez), the features of the interaction between the spectator and the theatre are considered. The concept of distributed aesthetics is considered through the prism of the problems of interaction between the spectator and the actor, who are in different spaces. The concepts of modern foreign researchers regarding the transformations of theatrical space in the conditions of the Internet space and the interaction between the actor and the spectator are clarified. Conclusions. The transformation of the role of the spectator in digital performances occurs in accordance with the specifics of their type and the features of the expansion of theatrical space in them. The metaphorical way of expanding space in multimedia performances, which is implemented on the basis of the development of innovative strategies for creating meaning by combining stage action and digital technologies, leaves the traditional format of “spectator as spectator” unchanged. The telematic performance represents the psychological expansion of space due to the absence of physical presence and transforms the spectator-observer into a spectator-user (or online spectator). In a comprehensive performance, space expands in a literal, territorial sense, as a result of which the performance acquires additional aesthetic elements due to environmental stimuli, and the spectator turns into a spectator-participant. Thus, we can state the direct interdependence of the expansion of theatrical space and the transformation of the role of the spectator.