Functions of Screen Images in Contemporary Russian Theatre in the Era of Transmedia: from Small-Format Monitors to Virtual Reality

Abstract

This article explores the role of screen images in contemporary Russian theatre and describes the modifications the theatre faces during the Digital Turn. By examining the performances of such artists as Maxim Didenko, Danil Chaschin, Andrey Prikotenko, Mikhail Patlasov, Semen Alexandrovsky, etc. the author of this article reveals the transformation in the usage of displays on the stage resulting from the changing context and new dimensions. In the theatre space, a screen is increasingly being presented in modern modifications. Often a monitor that is used in performances represents a screen reality. A screen image in the theatre equals its real self. It happens for example when a performance includes smartphones that people can interact with. In that case, a gadget becomes a readymade, an image on the smartphone screen gains new meanings without changing its form. But a display on the stage can also refer to the layers of virtual reality that it is not associated with outside the theatre space. This happens, for example, when a screen is used to place the audience inside a computer game or when phone displays are shown to spectators on big monitors. Traditionally, displays were used in theatres to demonstrate what is happening behind the stage or to show the inner world of the characters: their dreams, memories, and fantasies. This approach has been adopted and developed by contemporary Russian artists and now it is applied to immerse the viewers into digital reality, in the world of social media and avatars or to show the 360-degree view of the world outside the stage during a performance.  A monitor in a theatre now is a window into other dimensions as well as a language component up to date enough to communicate with the audience today.