Digital Sprocket

I know theater sounds like a “soft” topic, but there’s a lot of technology employed in theater today, and it’s only going to get more tech-heavy as time progresses. Most theatrical performances employ strictly pre-planned lighting and sound cues, and static sets, but what if all of that could be changed on the fly, in the middle of a performance?

During the day, our concert hall is used by the Edutainers to perform plays and musicals for the general public, so it is fully equipped with modern technical theater equipment. At night, we use the space for a quiz game show for our students, as well as weekly opening and closing ceremonies. During these events, the booth operators are often called upon to change things without warning. The MC’s for the quiz game may throw in an arm wrestling or hoola-hoop competition on a whim. When that happens the booth person changes the lighting appropriately. If he has an ipod, he can also rapidly select audio tracks and pipe them out over the sound system.

We also make heavy use of the video projector to show PowerPoint slides during these events. What if you used a few projectors to create backdrops for theater? With appropriately structured libraries, it would be trivial to change the scenery at the same pace as improv artists make up their lines. Digital audio allows for rapid selection of soundtracks or even sound effects ranging from doorbells to explosions. Most professional theaters already employ digital lighting systems, so they are already prepared for dynamic theater.