Virtual reality and the representation of corporeality in contemporary theater

Shkliarskaia Alina Edmundovna ORCID: 0009-0009-3139-2258 lecturer; Department of Art History; St. Petersburg Humanitarian University of Trade Unions 197022, Russia, St. Petersburg, Petrogradsky district, Aptekarsky ave., 10 alinashklyarskaya@gmail.com

In the 21st century, virtual reality technologies are beginning to actively penetrate into theatrical practice, creating new ways of interaction between the stage space, the actor and the audience. Unlike traditional theater, VR performances allow the viewer not only to observe, but also to participate, becoming part of the artistic action.

The relationship between the actor's real body and his visual representation was actively discussed back in the era of cinema. Walter Benjamin introduces the concept of an aura, which is lost when the principle of ”here and now” is violated and a movie camera appears in the audience's place: the aura around the player disappears - and at the same time around the one he is playing. [1 C.38]

Benjamin cites a quote from the playwright L. Pirandello, which in this article can be interpreted as a metaphor for the collision of the artist's body with new technology.: "The film actor feels like he's in exile [... where he is deprived not only of the stage, but also of his own personality. With vague anxiety, he feels an inexplicable emptiness that arises from the fact that his body disappears, that, moving, it dissolves and loses reality, life, voice and sounds, in order to turn into a mute image that flickers on the screen for a moment, only to disappear into silence... A small machine will play in front of the audience with its shadow, and he himself must be content to play in front of the machine" [ibid. c.38]. Today, the actor sees a wide range of expressive means, in which cinema, perhaps more than others, is used to capture the real body and its sensations.

Technological progress in recent decades has changed not only the means of communication, but also the very nature of art, in particular theater. Virtual reality offers a new level of bodily experience, allowing you to modify your physical presence and create multiple body images. The body and physicality, according to the definition of the philosopher Alla Mitrofanova, are a mental and physiological construct ^{[2, p.43]}. The philosopher notes that "European anatomy and physiology create the European body, while the Hindu or Taoist traditions shape physicality differently, assembling organs, their images and functions in different ways" [ibid]. Thus, physicality is a product of time and tradition, which allows us to consider its changes in the context of a limited-time performance or performance rendered in virtual reality.

Today, the issue of the anthropological transformation of the subject himself is being actively discussed: involved in network communication, he has the opportunity to construct many images of his "virtual body". On the one hand, it allows the subject to construct himself in many ways, which is actively discussed in the context of anthropological transformation ^{[3, p. 42]}, that is, the emphasis is on the possibility of choosing parameters for those whose avatar is created in the virtual world, the simulacra that appears embody images of a real body. On the other hand, "joint activities carried out in the virtual space of life turn out to be exhausting due to the inaccessibility of the other's bodily signals, asynchrony and difficulties in communication" ^{[4, p. 497]}.

Philosophical aspects of physicality in virtual space

The development of digital technologies has led to a blurring of the boundaries of physicality, and pioneers of virtual reality research, such as G. Reinhold, turn to the form of theater as a prototype of virtuality, which can make the viewer believe that in front of him is not a bare stage, but the courtyard of the ancient palace of Texas or the courtroom [...].. In his book "Virtual Community: Mastering the Electronic Frontier", the author cites a statement by B. Laurel, which states that the strong identification of players with artificial characters in a computer database is an example of the same human ability to mimesis that Aristotle attributed to the changing power of drama in society ^{[5, p.159]}. Since the above quote by L. Pirandello, about the aura of an actor, modern researchers, on the contrary, talk about the identity of the experience experienced if it takes place in the game.

M. Rini develops the concept of the theater as an initially virtual space, describing the theater as an "original virtual reality machine" where viewers can visit "imaginary worlds that are interactive and immersive" ^{[6, p.28]}.

In performances using VR, spatial auditory cues and perspectives are used as non-visual trails for the orientation of participants, which have a significant impact on the bodies of the audience users. The role of sound in achieving a developed sense of user immersion is similar to the ideas of A. Artaud in terms of the level of influence on the performer's body: "In accordance with similar principles, we propose to stage a performance in which these methods of direct influence would be used in their entirety; it would be a spectacle whose creator would not be afraid to go as far as possible to explore the receptivity of our nervous organization with the help of rhythms, sounds, words, distant echoes and whispers, properties and striking alloys of which form part of a certain technique, which the viewer should not know anything about" ^{[7, p.95]}. It seems that it is virtual reality that makes it possible to achieve this effect directly.

The philosopher M. McLuhan considers technologies as "external extensions of man", allowing him to go beyond his biological nature ^{[8, p. 230]}. In this context, virtual reality becomes a way to transform bodily experience, creating a new form of physicality that exists both inside and outside the material world. In the context of understanding technology as an extension, VR technology can also be defined from the "reverse" side, as "self-amputation". This term is used in the book "Understanding Media: External Human Extensions" by medical researchers, G. Selye and A. Jonas. They view any outward expansion as "self-amputation" and believe that the body uses an ability (or strategy).self-amputation occurs when the perceptual ability cannot locate the source of irritation or somehow avoid it [ibid., pp.24-25]. Based on this term, examples of its use in speech are given ("we wish to jump out of our skin", that something "jumped out of our head", that someone "lost his mind" or "lost his temper"), but today it is possible to move, jump, into a new virtual theatrical reality. A similar technique is used in the play "Biomechanics VR", staged in honor of the 150th anniversary of V. E. Meyerhold on the New Stage of the Alexandrinsky Theater named after V. E. Meyerhold: the viewer's body, his virtual avatar, is created in front of the eyes of those present and placed into the artistic canvas of the performance, thus avoiding a sensual source of irritation in reality, but the drama unfolds in this way (the artist slaps the viewer's virtual avatar in the face, as an allusion to Meyerhold's famous sketches), which creates a new level of perception and a source of irritation is now possible in another space.

Virtual reality in the theater

Modern theaters use VR technologies to transcend the boundaries of the physical dimension, in which viewers or artists put on VR helmets, immersing them in alternative worlds, thereby creating a new space for interaction. Using examples of such performances, it is possible to analyze how physicality changes when the audience becomes not just observers, but direct participants in the action, a new form of performance arises, where the interaction between the actor and the viewer becomes multi-layered, elements of virtual reality change the usual mechanisms of interaction and perception.

"The Cage with the Parrots" (Gogol Center, 2017), one of the first Russian productions using virtual reality, "The Cage with the Parrots", 2017, directed by Maxim Didenko), is a groundbreaking experience in which viewers used VR helmets to immerse themselves in the immersive world of the performance. One of the key features of this production is the use of a 360-degree view, which creates the effect of the viewer's full presence and involvement in what is happening on stage. In addition, the possibility of changing the perspective provides the viewer with the opportunity to see events through the eyes of the characters, thereby deepening the emotional connection with the plot. An important aspect of this theatrical realization is the intersection of real and digital action, which forms a new format of interaction between the viewer and the theatrical work, thereby significantly expanding the boundaries of traditional theatrical experience.

In the play "In Search of the Author" (Tyumen Drama Theater, 2021), VR is used as a metaphor for the search for identity. The narrative structure of the play is constructed in such a way that it is difficult for the viewer to determine who is in front of him: the actors who are ready to deceive, the characters who have come to life, or their abstract images existing in the director's mind. A significant part of the performance takes place in a virtual reality format, where the audience, wearing VR glasses, moves between virtual sets. This creates the opportunity for an individual choice of perspective and form of perception, allowing each viewer to "mount" their own performance and follow the characters from the comfort of their seat. The audience can change the viewing angle, exploring different perspectives inside the stage space.

In the play "I killed the Tsar" (Theater of Nations, 2019, directed by M. Patlasov), the audience is transported to 1918 and witness historical events. One of the main features of this production is the use of photographic and documentary archives that "come to life" in virtual space, creating the effect of immersion in historical reality. This approach allows the audience the freedom to move inside the stage space, which creates the possibility of an individual choice of the script. The audience becomes not just observers, but active participants who form their personal routes into the space of the performance, thereby strengthening the mechanisms of engagement and emotional connection with the historical context.

"Biomechanics VR" (The new stage of the Alexandrinsky Theater named after V. E. Meyerhold, 2023) explores the biomechanics of Meyerhold in the context of virtual reality. This project not only explores the physical fitness of the actor's body, but also focuses on the importance of the interaction of movements with modern media formats. As part of the perfolection, the project team uses biomechanical approaches that were first introduced by Meyerhold almost a hundred years ago at the Moscow Conservatory. At that time, his students demonstrated sketches aimed at performing specific actions to the music of Scriabin.

The modern reinterpretation of Meyerhold's practices includes elements of virtual reality, which allows viewers to make a comparative analysis between the physical and digital perception of movement.

The physicality of the viewer in the digital age

The physicality of the viewer in virtual reality is presented as a concept of multiple self-determination: the viewer can construct his virtual image, but faces the problems of a new level of interaction in an unfamiliar, newly perceived space. Virtual space becomes both a space for self-expression and a source of loneliness, since it deprives the possibility of smells, touches and other physical interactions, the choice that a person makes when interacting with the dramatic structure of a performance is often invisible to other viewers, that is, a person finds himself in hypertrophied loneliness during a theatrical performance.

Virtual reality is not just a technology, but a new way of the body's existence in art, which highlights the main idea of VR theater: it not only expands the viewer's experience, but also changes the very concept of physicality and interaction.

The prospects of VR theater are related to the further development of hybrid physicality, in which the physical body, digital avatar and interactive participation become a single artistic tool.