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not the terms) more ubiquitous. My only concern
is that the technology (such as cell phones, text
messaging and constant connectivity) may prove
to be too great a distraction against an apprecia-
tion of higher education and culture. If the current
crop of students referred to as digital natives are
indeed a people indigenous to a New World, they
may need an infusion of an older culture to widen
their understanding of technology's possibili-
ties. I am not suggesting that we, as academics,
“colonize” and “civilize” them (since that went
awry so often in the 19
th
Century and beyond), but
offer them cultural aid so they may themselves
develop and evolve.
Arts education in general, and theatre education
in particular, is in an ideal position to maintain and
impart this culture. As theatre is at the center of
all the arts, using elements of painting, sculpture,
movement, dance and music, all combined into
a single art form, theatre education can provide
simultaneously a breadth and a depth of training
and experience. At the same time, technology
continues to advance, allowing us to present
topics and mentor students in virtual worlds that
are, while still distinguishable from traditional
methods, closer than ever to accepted and ef-
fective methods of teaching—including that of
teaching theatre.
Using the basic experiences as described
above, future uses of virtual worlds in theatre
education can include acting and role-playing
(with voice), and the building/creation of more
detailed sets and scenery. As we advance, there will
be more potential and actual residents of virtual
worlds familiar with performing in those worlds.
As students become more comfortable with the
basics of navigation and object creation, and as
the technology becomes faster and easier to use,
they can further develop other skills of the theatre
practitioner. I foresee students not being shown a
Greek or Elizabethan theatre on a projected screen
but rather joining me there, creating virtual sets
for theatre productions (whether a model for an
RL production, or for an in-world production),
and more students performing music and theatre
within the virtual environment. We may soon
gather around our laptops and participate in online
and virtual theatre, having no doubt that we are
fulfilling the basic definition of theatre: the true
interaction between audience and performer.
CONCLUSION
Speaking at the Second Life Community Con-
vention in August 2009, Philip Rosedale (2009a,
2009b), founder of Linden Lab, reiterated his
desire to “digitize reality,” having called for
digitizing
everything
in a speech to the Long Now
Foundation in 2006. Expanding on the role of
MUVEs, Rosedale suggested that we have been in
a period of evolution that will soon reach a point
of critical mass with virtual residents, and change
into a revolution. His comments suggested that an
increase in the offerings in virtual worlds (things
to do and see) will lead to increased traffic by first
tourists, and then more residents.
Most interesting to me is this idea of evolu-
tion becoming revolution, because this change
describes the history of theatre. The art of perfor-
mance has evolved since its beginnings in Greece;
gradually we have added technology—first fire,
then gas lighting and finally electric lighting, along
with computer-aided drafting and computer-driven
lighting instruments. More recently, we have be-
gun to interact with technology in performances
(with projected three-dimensional scenery or by
using video conferencing or other multimedia in
productions), or to move performances entirely
into the virtual world. This incursion of digital
theatre has caused consternation among theatre
purists, who fear a revolution, that we will lose
the organic nature of theatre, of one-to-one, or
face-to-face, communication between actor and
spectator.
It is likely that there is no turning back, and
that the digital genie, once released from the
bottle, cannot be contained; it seems inevitable
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