Historical and Theoretical Context
Zakros InterArts’ Telematic Theater is rooted in a rich lineage of artistic experimentation, evolving the 19th-century vision of Wagner’s Gesamtkunstwerk (Total Artwork) into the age of digital networks. Composer Richard Wagner sought to fuse all the arts into a unified immersive form of music drama; today, the Telematic Theater transposes that ideal onto architecture of the shared “third space” of the internet. In the virtual auditorium, remote live performers are composed within digital environments to create the illusion of a shared stage, correlating spatialized sound and 3D visuals. It is a direct heir to Wagner’s notion of dissolving boundaries between art forms, now achieved by merging performance, telecommunication, and real-time computing. Pioneering media artists anticipated such a networked art form: Nam June Paik famously envisioned a future “when you will be able to switch to any TV station on the earth… every artist would be his own channel”, foretelling the rise of artist-driven broadcasting in our connected era. His contemporary Gene Youngblood, in Expanded Cinema (1970), argued that video and emerging communications technology could form a decentralized “planetary network” for creative expression beyond the control of mass media. These early conceptual experiments laid the groundwork for treating the internet itself as a performance medium.
Throughout the late 20th century, bold experiments in “telematic” art proved that geographically dispersed participants could share a live experience. In 1977, Kit Galloway and Sherrie Rabinowitz’s Satellite Arts ’77 project used satellite links to place distant dancers into a single composite image, a literal stage in the sky. Their 1980 piece Hole in Space connected pedestrians in New York and Los Angeles via large video displays, transforming public plazas into a transcontinental interactive stage. Such projects demonstrated the third space as a new performance arena – one not bounded by physical walls but by the reach of broadcast signals and, later, the internet. By the 2000s, artists like Annie Abrahams were exploring the intimate, human side of networked performance, asking whether real emotional connection can be forged in virtual spaces. Abrahams’ works often bring together geographically dispersed performers via webcams and custom software, placing them into a shared on-screen grid. This “telematic embrace” – a term coined by Roy Ascott – poses the poignant question: “Is there love in the telematic embrace?” In other words, can technology-mediated interaction convey the warmth and depth of physical presence? The Telematic Theater arises as a challenge to that question. Informed by these historical explorations, it reclaims the network as a stage for genuine human connection and creative collaboration. It synthesizes the radical ideas of Paik, Youngblood, Galloway, Rabinowitz, Abrahams and others into a functional artistic platform. In doing so, the Telematic Theater stands as a contemporary Gesamtkunstwerk – not built of bricks and mortar, but of code, cameras, and communities – fulfilling the early vision of a “theater of the future” on a global scale.
Technical Vision
At its core, the Telematic Theater is a live, networked performance system that enables artists and audiences to converge in a shared virtual venue. In collaboration with Théophile Clet, Federico Foderaro, and Jean-Marc Jot, it operates through a triadic architecture of interconnected nodes: a Primary Node (the main studio), multiple Satellite Nodes (remote performers’ locations), and Audience Nodes (the online viewing space). The Primary Node – in this case the Zakros Underground Studio Bunker in Washington, DC – is the nerve center where the production is orchestrated. Here a suite of hardware and software applications seamlessly layers and mixes live video feeds, audio streams, graphics, and effects into the final composite mise en scène. The Satellite Nodes are the remote studios of each performer, equipped with cameras, microphones, green screens, and lighting.
Through a custom browser-based interface, performers transmit a video and audio feed to the Primary Node in the studio, and receive the real-time program mix in return. This two-way link means performers can see and hear the emerging show as they act, allowing responsive interaction despite being miles apart. Finally, the Audience Node is currently accessed via a web interface where viewers watch the composed performance live. Uniquely, the Audience Node also includes a chat module for real-time discussion, letting audience members not only talk amongst themselves but even influence the show – selected comments or cues from the chat can be layered into the performance visuals or script. By networking performers and audience in this way, the system collapses the traditional hierarchy of theater. The roles of creator, performer, and spectator begin to blur in an interactive “third space” environment where anyone, in principle, can become part of the performance.
The Telematic Theater employs a robust suite of audiovisual tools, presenting them in an intuitive, theatrical workflow. The centerpiece is the Visual Stage – a custom-built application (created in Cycling ’74 Max) that acts as the digital stage and control room. Think of the Visual Stage as an immersive mixing desk for performance: it gathers all live video feeds from performers, as well as pre-recorded media, graphics, and virtual backgrounds, and composites them in real time into the virtual mise en scène. Performers captured on greenscreen are chroma keyed and placed within the virtual environments – for example, a 3D spherical landscape or a surreal collage – allowing remote actors to appear side by side as if in the same theatrical space. The Visual Stage supports both 2D layering and more advanced 3D scenography, complete with dynamic lighting for each performer along with virtual camera perspectives. States of the entire setup can be saved as presets or cues, enabling the creative team to design the flow of scenes and transitions in advance, much like a traditional stage manager would cue lighting and sound changes. During a show, the Primary Node operator (often the director) can trigger these presets or adjust elements on the fly, mixing live improvisation with pre-scored sequences. The hardware in the studio – computers, video switchers, video decks, and MIDI controllers – is configured as a single “multimedia instrument” responsive to the director’s touch. As a result, the technical complexity lies under the hood; what collaborators experience is a fluid, playable system for live art.
One of the most striking features of the Telematic Theater’s design is its use of real-time, correlated spatial audio-visual panning and rendering. In the virtual stage, performers are not constrained in flat video boxes; they are situated in a cohesive spherical space with depth and perspective, and crucially, the sound follows suit. Advanced spatial audio software renders each performer’s voice or instrument in a 3D sound field, so that if (for example) two actors appear to stand far apart in the virtual scene, their voices will sound localized from different directions in the audience member’s headphones, their distance from the viewer is enhanced using real-time reverberant perceptual factors such as source presence and envelopment. This spatial audio technique creates the illusion of “being there,” enveloping viewers in an acoustic environment that matches and correlates with the visuals.
Productions and Workshops
The true potential of the Telematic Theater comes to life in its productions – real-world performances and labs that demonstrate how this system enables new artistic experiences. Two flagship projects, Cabaret Elektronica and Bunker Fridays, illustrate the creative and collaborative breadth of the platform, from multimedia theater to interactive public dialogue.
Cabaret Elektronica: Alice Travels Beyond Wonderland (2024) – the first Zakros performance/workshop in the telematic theater – showcased how the medium can weave together local art history and experimental digital performance. Conceived as a tribute to the late Alice Denney, a beloved Washington, DC arts patron and founder of the Washington Project for the Arts (WPA), Cabaret Elektronica was co-hosted by the WPA and presented as a live online production in June 2024. In director Randall Packer’s words, Alice Denney’s “rebellious and mischievous spirit” became the inspiration for a wild, networked 21st century reimagining of Alice in Wonderland. An ensemble of three geographically dispersed performers – ranging from rural Virginia to Washington, DC to downtown Los Angeles – was choreographed into a unified spectacle on the virtual stage. Virginia-based artist Melissa Ichiuji and DC performance artist Katie Magician performed as a modern-day Alice doppelganger, while tenor vocalist Charles Lane served as the Cabaret Elektronic emcee, each performing from their own remote studios. Using green screens, these actors appeared together in surreal 3D mediascapes as if sharing the same fantastical world.
The underground studio bunker served as the engineering and mixing hub – Packer acted simultaneously as director and engineer, “orchestrating live feeds, graphics, and sound into a seamless flow”. Remarkably, audiences could hardly tell the cast was miles apart; to them it felt like an integrated place of theatre, film, and gaming unfolding in real time on the virtual stage. Cabaret Elektronica exemplified the synthesis of art and technology Zakros InterArts had been striving for over decades: it was both experimental new music theater and social event, much like the Happenings it stage in physical spaces during the 1990s. The performance/workshop included demonstrations by the performers, discussion with the director and collaborators extended into an interactive after-party called “Drinking About Alice.” In this virtual post-show gathering, audience members and the artists mingled in a shared online café, raising a toast to Alice Denney’s legacy and conversing via live video and chat. This playful extension of the performance blurred the line between performer and audience, highlighting how telematic performance can foster genuine social connectedness. Supported by a grant from the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities, Cabaret Elektronica also proved that funders recognize the value of such hybrid art forms that merge cultural memory with an experimental medium. It was a milestone for Zakros: a demonstration that even a century-old art luminary like Alice Denney could be celebrated in an entirely new theatrical language – one born of green screens and video streams, yet imbued with the warmth of community and remembrance.
Bunker Fridays (2025) – an ongoing series of telematic performances and public forums – illustrates the Telematic Theater’s capacity as a tool for creative collaboration and activism. By 2025, amid renewed cultural conflicts and political pressures on arts institutions, Randall Packer reimagined the Telematic Theater as a stage for artistic resistance in the form of Bunker Fridays. Streaming live from the DC studio bunker, Bunker Fridays was described as “part performance, part civic dialogue.” Each session centered on urgent themes (censorship, diversity in the arts, protest and memory), guided by the mantra: “Silence is surrender. Resistance is presence.” In this context, “presence” meant going live on air – using the very act of broadcasting as an artistic and political statement. The episode entitled “Defending Culture” on May 30, 2025, convened a panel of prominent artists and thinkers in the Telematic Theater’s space. On that day, multimedia artist Paul D. Miller (aka DJ Spooky), performance scholar Michael Sakamoto, arts advocate Linda K. Stillman, and Gray Area founder Barry Threw all joined Packer via the Telematic Theater. Together they confronted the mounting threats to arts funding and historical memory in America, asking “How do we resist the erasure of truth, memory, and artistic freedom in this time of crisis?”. The discussion unfolded as a dynamic mix of heartfelt commentary, multimedia interludes, and direct audience interaction through the chat – exemplifying how a telematic “stage” can double as a civic platform. In format and spirit, Bunker Fridays harkened back to Third Space Network’s 2020 pandemic-era virtual town halls, but with an even sharper activist edge. Now the performance of the broadcast itself is embedded in the message. The sight of an artist in a basement studio, running a DIY broadcasting station to connect with colleagues and audiences around the world, became a powerful tableau of resistance. “Each episode of Bunker Fridays was a call to presence, a call to engage, and a creative act of resistance against cultural and political erasure,” one description noted. In these broadcasts, one could glimpse the full arc of Zakros InterArts’ evolution – from guerrilla performances in site-specific locations (A Season in Hell) to a high-tech broadcasted command center for real-time cultural dialogue. Bunker Fridays solidified Zakros’ identity as an “artist-driven online media platform” that uses live telematic performance and conversation to explore the intersection of art, politics, and media. It demonstrated the Telematic Theater’s capacity to bring together diverse voices (artists, activists, scholars, and the public) into a shared space of creativity and debate, irrespective of physical location. Both Cabaret Elektronica and Bunker Fridays thus highlight the system’s flexibility – from fantastical theatrical storytelling to urgent community discourse. They also showcase new artistic strategies in telepresence: in one case, remote performers generate a collective fantasy; in the other, the performer/host serves as a node connecting many participants for collective truth-telling. Through these pioneering productions and workshops, the Telematic Theater has proven its value as a creative medium and a collaborative network, pointing the way for others to experiment in the growing field of online performance art.
Vision for the Future
As the Telematic Theater continues to evolve, it holds profound potential to influence the future of online performing arts. Its vision is inherently forward-looking – not just reacting to current needs but actively proposing new modes of creation and participation that could redefine what “theater” means in the digital age. At the heart of this vision is a commitment to accessibility, hybridity, and experimental dramaturgy.
Accessibility: The Telematic Theater aspires to make live performance available to anyone, anywhere, at any time. By decoupling performance from a physical venue, it dramatically expands the reach of the arts. A show staged in the Telematic Theater can be experienced just as vividly by an audience member in a small town or another country as by one in a cultural capital – all that’s needed is a good internet connection. This opens doors to audiences who might never set foot in an opera house or experimental theater, whether due to geography, cost, or mobility. Likewise, it empowers creators from underserved communities or distant regions to collaborate and present work on an equal footing with those in major urban centers. In a practical sense, networked productions also reduce the need for travel and large in-person crews, lowering costs and the carbon footprint of performances. Especially in a post-pandemic world and amid climate concerns, this model is both economically and environmentally sustainable. The Telematic Theater’s ultimate aim is to deliver immersive art directly to home consumer systems. In this scenario, the home theater setup becomes a portal to rich cultural experiences: a 4K TV, surround-sound speakers or VR headset can transport the viewer into a live theatrical event happening across the globe. This re-situates the viewing of online arts programming from the desk to the darkened living room, feeling as if the actors are in the room with you – this is the level of engagement being targeted by Zakros.
Hybridity: The future of the Telematic Theater is inherently hybrid. It exists at the crossroads of physical and virtual, combining elements of traditional performing arts with innovations from gaming, virtual reality, and social media. We can expect future productions to further blur the line between online and offline experiences. For example, a telematic performance might be staged simultaneously for an in-person audience in a gallery and for remote participants, with each group visible and audible to the other. Physical stage sets could be augmented by virtual scenery that remote viewers see (via mixed reality headsets or streams), creating a dual-layered reality. Conversely, remote performers might be projected as life-sized holograms or video installations in physical venues, contributing their presence to hybrid ensemble pieces. The Telematic Theater’s technology is already extensible – developers are considering integration with emerging platforms and protocols to allow, say, an audience member in a VR headset to virtually “step on stage” with the performers, or a group of viewers to experience a show in 360° video together. This kind of hybridity also refers to genre and media fusion. In the telematic realm, the discreet categories of theater, cinema, music concert, gaming, and installation art are intended to converge. A single work can incorporate live acting, multi-screen video art, interactive game-like elements, and real-time audience feedback as narrative devices. Such cross-pollination of forms will encourage an experimental dramaturgy that is unique to the medium. Already, the Telematic Theater liberates creators from the constraints of a single stage or timeline – scenes can fluidly merge or happen in parallel, freed from the logistics of moving sets and bodies physically. Storytelling can become nonlinear and multi-perspectival, taking advantage of the network’s ability to link different spaces and times. Audiences, too, may become characters in the performance through their chat responses or by contributing video cameos from their own cameras. The “fourth wall” that traditionally separates spectators from performers is not just broken; it is redesigned as a two-way mirror, with audience input visible and influential within the show environment. This creates opportunities for dramaturgy that is participatory and open-ended. The Telematic Theater is not about translating conventional theater to the online medium, as was common during the pandemic – it’s about developing a new artistic language native to networked space. In the long term, we can anticipate a flourishing of new genres born from this language: perhaps telematic opera, where singers across continents perform in one virtual chorus; or interactive tele-plays, where live audience decisions branch the narrative in real time. The experimental ethos of the platform ensures that it will remain a laboratory for pushing the boundaries of live performance.
Finally, the Telematic Theater’s future vision is guided by a sense of social and cultural purpose. It aims to continue using the online stage as a space of civic engagement and intercultural exchange, amplifying voices and stories that might be marginalized in mainstream media. By connecting people in real time across political and geographic divides, it fosters empathy and collective creativity. One can easily imagine international telematic festivals, educational programs, and cross-cultural collaborations that build on the platform – extending what Zakros has already done with its symposia and public dialogues. The motto might well be, in the spirit of Buckminster Fuller, “don’t fight the old system; invent a new model that makes the old one obsolete.” The Telematic Theater is inventing that new model for the performing arts. It is turning the internet into a stage where the ethos of the ensemble and the liveness of theater are preserved, even as the form is transformed. As we look ahead, the project stands to influence not only how artists create together remotely, but also how audiences expect to engage with art in the digital era – interactively, immersively, and on their own terms. In conclusion, the Telematic Theater points toward an evolutionary leap for the performing arts: a future that is more accessible, hybrid, and experimental by design. As one recent presentation of the project succinctly put it: “From the underground studio to the Living Room of the Future… we build this theater not with bricks and mortar, but with signal and space.” In this new theater, the only walls are network connections, and the only borders are our imaginations – a truly 21st-century stage where anyone can play a part.