Does online performance have a post-pandemic future?

Artists, teachers and arts administrators reflect on the future of theatre and comedy online, including questions of access and engagement.

The range of digital programming has exploded during the lockdowns, making comedy and theatre more accessible to a broader audience. But is this trend just a pandemic measure or an ongoing change to how we consume live entertainment?

Years ago, Canberra-based performance artist and disability advocate Hanna Cormick drafted an email to Britain’s National Theatre that she never sent. In it, she asked why the institution didn’t make its archives available online instead of just doing limited theatrical runs.

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Daniel Herborn is a journalist and novelist based in Sydney. His writing has appeared or is forthcoming in The Saturday Paper, The Monthly, The Guardian, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, and others. He has also practised law at an Intellectual Property firm specialising in creative industries clients.