drama and the web

Do you think the web can sustain works of drama? (Christy1, 2/23/99 11:16:10 AM)

Many have created web projects with performative elements. Satire has also enjoyed extensive play. Do you think the web as a medium can support dramatic works?

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Flavia Dzodan (yanna, 2/24/99 5:03:34 PM)

hey christy =)

interesting topic you set here.

first thing that comes to my mind is: drama would be only "theatre expressions" or are we talking about other (sub)cathegories? imho, drama is not just restricted to a stage perfomance, but to a wide variety of other fields as well (cinema, tv, some radio broadcasts, in fact anything thats written to be "performed"). i would go one step forward and say that, somehow, drama is made of "moving images", having a unique kinetic characteristic (in oposition to "still" visual arts), which, would be a starting point for me when discussing if drama expressions can take place within the www.

initially, any piece posted on the web has an image quality (the design, the way it is presented, the colors, fonts, even the specific programming language chosen for the design -java, shockwave, activex, inclusion of cgi scripts, etc). but also, there's the possibility of using image (either animations or still images). however, in most cases, these images are used purely as illustrations for the text ("going" with the text, instead of having an independent quality or a value by themselves). though there seems to be a completely new (and yet pretty unexplored) field related to web posted works. up to now, drama was only possible with the participation of "actors" (meaning any entity with phisical existance -this could even include machines, like in many perfomances of La Fura dels Baus). yet what does hypertext (or web posted literature) have to do with drama? let me quote "cinematic paradigms for hypertext" a very interesting essay written by adrian miles: "alas, hypertext is the WORD made cinematic". (the underlined is mine).

a cinematic expression: one not only related to "cinema" (the art itself) but also to movement (cinematic as in the physical cinematic, or movement). so now, we would also have "words" performing actions? this would take us to a completly new vision of the "dramatic perfomance". in order to produce "drama" we need three co existing units: space, time and action. is that possible within cybertext? hypertext does not take place in the "reading". words actually "happen" in the links. its in the linking process that words become actions. we could equal the link to the dissolve in cinema or to the change of scenes in theatre. again, i will quote miles "the dissolve is a temporal device, it occupies time by extending the usually occluded moment across the space and time of the image". so, in a sense, words would be executing a perfomance in the dramatical connotation.

we find time and action in the hypertext experience (i will not start a discussion about "space" since it would take too long -does it happen within the computer, the programme coding, the reader's location? in all those places at the same time? is the world wide web a "place" by itself? it would be endless). now, to Christy's original question "Do you think the web as a medium can support dramatic works?" my answer just took all the available disk space on this conference, so...should i say more? ;-) the challenge, for writers would, in any case, be pretty tough: how to put hypertext in action more efficiently? (i.e. more interesting/ attractive, intelligent links; better interfaces, etc.). if anyone manages to solve those problems, then they will most likely have a very enticing "dramatic perfomance" at sight.

thanx a lot for your atention and if i bored you pls accept my sincere apologies. =)

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Flavia Dzodan (yanna, 2/24/99 5:13:35 PM)

what on earth have i done with that link?? my good lord....HOW DO I FIX IT?? now i am in trouble

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Christy Sheffield Sanford (Christy1, 2/26/99 1:50:34 PM)

With dynamic html, the action does not have to take place in the linking. I enjoyed the article and it made me think further about this area. To clarify, I am interested in some of the deeper emotions and their expression: compassion, passion, fear, longing, anger, tenderness, etc. I am also concerned with mood and setting. How can these make their way successfully on the web; this is one of my problems, and I love working in this area. The link has, I believe, been over-emphasized. Hypertextuality is a mode of thinking. You don't have to jump to another page to accomplish this. I feel Red Mona, my first web piece, which has no links, was much more hypertextual than many heavily linked pieces I have seen. For me, hypertextual thinking means exploring conceptual associations. This process is characterized by inclusiveness. I like a word coming from physics "aeolotropic" which means having different properties in different directions. http://web.purplefrog.com/~christy/red-mona/ best on Mac And now, I'll start a topic on hypertext.