Orestes Live from Austin, TX to my Bedroom

Tonight I had the pleasure of being among the 30 or so people watching Cambiare Productions live online stream of their performance of Orestes.  Having run in Austin for the last 2 weeks and continuing through this weekend, hosting a live stream was a way for Cambiare’s Artistic & Producing Directors Travis & Will to share the work they are doing with those who cannot make it down to Texas to see the show.

During the World Theatre Day celebrations, Cambiare also hosted a live stream for their reading of Carol Churchill’s Seven Jewish Children.    And after the success of that endeavor I was thrilled to hear them announce tonight’s show.

One of the things that I found most interesting about the experience was the way the technology changed how I viewed the piece.  I did watch the entire play, but at times drifted over to wikipedia to check plot points or Twitter to see what others were saying about the show.  As well, the technology they were using to stream the show came with a chat room which allowed for immediate responses to things we liked (La Tasha Stephens as the voice of the people, and the whole image of lawyer, judge, jury), things we didn’t like (people who point at other people) and things that surprised us (Death by Travis!).  The best analogy for the interaction level of it was the post-show trip to the bar where you can digest everything you’ve just seen, but we were able to do that while we were watching.

Of course things get lost with the change in medium: there were certain actors that were difficult to hear, the camera chooses where you look instead of you being able to take in everything that’s happening around you, it can be hard to see people’s faces, but despite those difficulties Orestes was a great experience.