Introduction

Summary

Visualising Lost Theatres studies venues that have been ‘lost’, whether through demolition or substantial remodelling. Once a theatre building is lost, its theatrical, social, and cultural worlds fade. Some fragments may remain, but their capacity to tell the story of a venue’s role in performance is limited. In researching this book, we learned how venues are living systems rather than passive containers of performance, and that their contribution to the creation of live performance has been underestimated. We studied how the contours of theatre venues cultivated social cohesion within them and forged connections with the cultural and political worlds beyond. To recover what is lost when a venue is no longer in existence, we turned to three-dimensional (3D) visualisation technology to recreate the venue in virtual form, so that we can reactivate dynamic facets of its performance space. This volume thus explores the creative interactions that exist between architecture, artists, and audiences.