Final Post

            Out of all the topics we discussed in class this semester the one that stuck with me the most was performance. When I first began this course I believed that I had a clear understanding of what theatrical performance was. However as we later found out we truly have no idea what it means. We first defined performance as an act done with the intent of being seen by an audience. After this discussion I thought I had a better understand until the topic if liveness came in to play. When we talked about liveness we discussed what can and cannot be considered a love performance. Chat bots were than main contradiction to this. When talking about performance we said as long as it was meant to be seen by an audience then it counted as theatre. Well if this is true then are prerecorded moments that are later shared online or on TV not considered a theatrical performance. Since chat bots don’t truly talk in real time like humans are there actions not considered a performance. Can we even declare the actions of a robot to be a theatrical performance? As time goes on and the technological elements of theatre begin to change then so will the limits of performance will change as well. We may never have a set definition for performance for this very reason.