A Recalibration of Theatre’s Hypermediality

Abstract

AbstractIt is often proposed that the unique capacity of theatre is that it allows all media hosted within it to manifest themselves in their own particular forms. This chapter pursues Lars Elleström’s notion that theatre is indeed highly multimodal and integrates many basic and qualified media, prompting a recalibration of current definitions of a hypermedium incorporating all arts and media. The author contends that, alongside the significance of material mobility, there are specific temporal, spatial and sensorial modes that are fundamental in defining the mechanics and the potential of the hypermedium. This interplay of modalities creates new forms of hybrid signification through particulardialogues of immediacy and hypermediacy,participant authorship,angles of mediationandangles of exclusivity, transporting theatre into new and sometimes challenging relationships with other assertive qualified media types, notably what the author refers to as thearchitecture of commerce.