Desktop Theater

Desktop Theater was a digital performance project created by Adriene Jenik and Lisa Brenneis that ran from 1997 to 2002. The project consisted of a series of early experiments in network performances using online discussion rooms and visual chat applications such as The Palace.[1] The objective was to introduce a compelling way for the public to interact with theater online and the audiences responses in the chat room were seen as an important element of the work.[2] The project created over 40 web-based performances during its lifetime.[3][4][5]

Using The Palace, the company would enter the online environment and using avatars, create adaptations of stage performances. One adaptation performed was waitingforgodot.com, based on Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett.[6] Everything that would conventionally be seen on a live stage (e.g. scenery, gestures, emotions, and speech) was compressed into 2D and computer speech.[7] This subgenre of digital performance is also known as cyberformance.

Besides adaptations of plays, the Desktop Theater project also created improvisations, activities, active verses, and workshops. With each work, the project strove to eliminate the distance between performer and audience.[8]