Internet, Theatre and the Public Voice

Written from a practice-based perspective, Internet, Theatre and the Public Voice focuses on the use of the internet in contemporary theatre-making for facilitating civic engagement and conflictual participation in current discussions and debates. This is important because it allows individuals and the community to be presented and represented as part of the actual performance. The chapter explores the use of the internet as a space and a tool for reclaiming public ownership of national institutions, looking at the pirate version of the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT) and the case of National Theatre Wales. The chapter offers an analysis of audience engagement in the Etheatre Project and Collaborators (2014a, b) cyberformance to provide a range of techniques and considerations that can be applied by both artists and community-based practitioners for the socio-political engagement and the public participation of their local communities and global audiences. Keywords: cyberformance, digital, ERT, Etheatre, internet, National Theatre Wales, online, participation, performance, theatre.