InstaStan - FaceBrook - Brecht+: A Performer Training Methodology for the Age of the Internet

What do we do with a cohort of student-performers who show more interest in Instagram than Konstantin Stanislavski, in Facebook than Peter Brook and in Google than Bertolt Brecht? Based on our experience of working with second year BA (Hons) Performance and Media students at the University of South Wales, this paper aims to provide a performance training methodology for the age of the Internet. In particular, it focuses on our approach to creating a laboratory style training experience, engaging student-performers in critical-creative processes as both participants and facilitators of creative practice. We argue that this explorative and experimental journey of using social media and online platforms in live performance, allows student-performers to make strong connections between everyday digital tools and theatre and performance methods and techniques. Additionally, we ask questions of what forms these laboratories may take in the future, for example: What would a StanChat laboratory look like? How can we incorporate InstaStan, FaceBrook and Brecht+ into our training practices for digital performance more broadly?