Visualising Lost Theatres

Drawing on cutting-edge virtual reality, this book unearths the social-political histories and theatrical praxis of five 'lost' theatres.

Unearthing new discoveries for scholars, practitioners and undergraduates, this book charts the socio-political history of five 'lost' venues and their contribution to the creation of performance. Encompassing cultural history, critical race studies, geography and urban planning, this is a landmark text for digital humanities and theatre studies.This pioneering study harnesses virtual reality to uncover the history of five venues that have been 'lost' to us: London's 1590s Rose Theatre; Bergen's mid-nineteenth-century Komediehuset; Adelaide's Queen's Theatre of 1841; circus tents hosting Cantonese opera performances in Australia's goldfields in the 1850s; and the Stardust showroom in 1950s Las Vegas. Shaping some of the most enduring genres of world theatre and cultural production, each venue marks a significant cultural transformation, charted here through detailed discussion of theatrical praxis and socio-political history. Using virtual models as performance laboratories for research, Visualising Lost Theatres recreates the immersive feel of venues and reveals performance logistics for actors and audiences. Proposing a new methodology for using visualisations as a tool in theatre history, and providing 3D visualisations for the reader to consult alongside the text, this is a landmark contribution to the digital humanities.