Finnish theatre maker Janne Raudaskoski is bringing theatre/magic/film performance ‘The Outsider’ to this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Here, he discusses the applications of technology in theatre.
I’ve thought a lot about why so many people don’t go to the theatre while they do go to the movies. It’s especially difficult to get young audience to theatres. Could new methods of performance attract new audiences?
‘The Outsider’ aims to combine the best features of cinema and theatre. In the piece, I utilise large video screens that I ‘walk into’. The hidden transfers from one screen to another (or to somewhere else) are done using traditional magicians’ techniques. My concept allows me to replicate myself, to play many roles at the same time, and to be my own co-actor. The technique enables many things that would not be possible in a traditional theatre show: we do quick cuts as in movies, we transfer from one time and place to another, and we utilise video tricks.
Doing a live show gives the audience much more than a two-dimensional or three-dimensional film on screen. The venue and the live performance bring an element of surprise and a sense of danger, and they enable a play between the viewer and the performer.
When technology is employed in a theatre or circus performance, there’s always the risk that the use of technology feels superimposed. With ‘The Outsider’, the technology is written into the script. Modern technology offers new possibilities for artists that do performing arts.
When technology is used and genres are mixed, it makes it more difficult to categorise a performance. ‘The Outsider’ could be a video performance, a circus performance, a drama that deals with serious topics, or a comedy. I would say that it is all of these.
The Outsider, New Town Theatre, Aug 19-30, 5.30pm.
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