3-D Film, but 2-D Theater

Avatar in 3-D!! Shrek in 3-D!! Kung Fu Panda in 3-D!! Over the past few years, filmmakers have increasingly attempted to make the jump to the third dimension. It seems like half of the previews out there today are for 3-D movies. People wear those thick black 3-D glasses so often that it has even become a fashion statement to wear them out on the streets. However, while cutting edge technology has carried many films into an additional dimension, new technology on Broadway has seemingly taken live theater back to the second dimension. As I was reading this, I thought the same thing that may be on your mind right now: What in the world does that mean that Broadway is now in 2-D? Have the actors become South Park-like cardboard cutouts?

Well, obviously not. The 2-D aspect of theater isn’t referring as much to the actors themselves as it is to the sets around them. In the past, Broadway shows took great pride in their elaborately designed sets, with extremely realistic props and enormous backgrounds that took a great deal of artistic ability to create. As we discussed in class, the set itself impacts how we judge theater performances. In the Iolanthe performance at Pace University’s theater, there was a very simple set. Nevertheless, various aspects of it, including the flags and the design on the floor, impacted our appreciation for the operetta. Recently, a trend has begun to emerge on Broadway, where sets are leaving behind the traditional physical sets that we are accustomed to seeing, and using digital projections instead. Hence, the 2-D classification of a live Broadway show.

Although projections aren’t entirely new to theater, lately they have become much more common. Do you think that digital sets enhance theatrical performance as whole more than they take away from it? Do you want this trend to become more mainstream or do you feel that it diminishes the tangible nature of experiencing a truly live show?

Read The New York Times article