Innovation & Digital Theatremaking: Rethinking Theatre with ’The Show Must Go Online’

Innovation & Digital Theatremaking introduces a blueprint for how to think differently about Theatre, how to respond creatively in uncertainty, and how to wield whatever resources are available to create new work in new ways.

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic had a colossal impact on theatre across the world. At a time when even the wealthiest and best-supported theatre companies in the world ceased all operations and shuttered their stages, the theatre company The Show Must Go Online (TSMGO) forged its way into a new frontier: the highly accessible digital landscape of online performance. In this book, TSMGO creator Robert Myles and Valerie Clayman Pye explore the success of TSMGO from a practical standpoint, offering insights and strategies that can help theatremakers at every level respond proactively to the future of Theatre in the digital era. Each chapter addresses a different aspect of the creative process and concludes with take-homes so readers can learn how to innovate rapidly, undertake research and development in order to create their own models, and cultivate their own theatrical communities.

Written for theatremakers, directors, producers, and creatives of all levels of experience, this book will help readers to think critically and creatively about theatre and theatre pedagogues to understand how to train their students for the theatre of the future.

Robert Myles is an actor, director, writer and practitioner who specializes in Shakespeare in Performance, Stage & Screen Combat, and Digital Theatre. Creator of The Show Must Go Online, The Shakespeare Deck, Fight Rep and more, Rob is dedicated to transforming perceptions, performance, and participation in all his practice areas.

Valerie Clayman Pye is an actor, director, author, and academic who specializes in training actors to meet the demands of performing Shakespeare, and challenging audience expectations about Shakespeare in performance. She is an Associate Professor of Theatre and Chair of the Department of Theatre, Dance, and Arts Management at Long Island University, Post.