Multimedia and Imagined Memory

1. There has certainly been a giant shift to the incorporation of technical elements such as projections and other multimedia displays within theatrical performances, but I’m not convinced that this will lead to the dilution of the art form. I think that by adapting performances so that they include these technical elements serves to enhance the audience’s experience, especially audience members whom are not avid theatre-goers. Admittedly not all plays lend themselves to this sort of adaptation, but I wouldn’t imagine that the future of theatre involves having every single play being produced to include these multimedia elements. I also wonder if the blurring of the line between artistic disciplines really has such negative implications. Does that necessarily mean that the quality of that art is lessened because we have a more difficult time defining it? Either way theatre is bound to change and adapt with the advances in technology that will take place in the future, just as it has currently. As we discussed in class even elements such as sound and lighting design are relatively new conventions used in theatre that have had a profound impact on the way we view a performance. In fact I would argue that these elements have the ability to completely transform a show. So then I wonder in what ways will the theatre of the future be transformed. 
2. In regards to Andreas Huyssen’s concept of “imagined memory,” I feel like I experience this phenomenon ALL the time. One example that sticks out for me is Disney World. Every couple of years growing up (and recently last summer), my family and I would go on vacation to Disney World. Even though I have/had distinct mental images of being there and all of the things that we did, I still had this weirdly altered memory of my experiences there. For example, last summer when I went with my family it rained every single day that we were there. And when I commented on that my mom pointed out that it almost always rains every time that we go. I found that odd because I had no memory of there ever being rain when we went growing up. Just this happy generic sort of memory that resembles a commercial (see below). I suppose that would mean that the people marketing and advertising the Disney Corporation are doing a hell of a job. When it comes to theatre I think that an audiences imagined memory of a performance they have seen in the past, whether good or bad, will color their perception of the art form as a whole. Im speaking more about audience members that don’t go to the theatre very often if at all. I think that if people have had negative experiences viewing a particular art form it can manifest itself into becoming a very powerful barrier to entry to that art as a whole. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPYUo0awFOc