On the 12th of December, 1994, a few dozen people gathered at an event which made cyber-history: an experimental performance on IRC--Internet Relay Chat--of a hilarious parody of Shakespeare's Hamlet, irreverently renamed "Hamnet." Eighteen persons were to be performers; the rest had come to watch the show. Parodies of Shakespeare are nothing new--there is a long tradition of writing and performing them both in the United Kingdom and in the United States (Davison, 1982; Brett, 1984; Levine, 1988). Hamlet was a particular favorite in 19th-century American parodies (Levine, 1988). But there was something very new and unusual about this event: the audience didn't have to dress up or cope with traffic jams to get to the theater--they could even attend in their pajamas. Performers didn't have to worry about their makeup or costumes either, and it was more important for them to be able to type fast than to project their voices. The performance "took place" not in a real-world (RL) theater, but in a virtual auditorium--a specially designated channel on IRC called #hamnet, after the name of the group engaged in this experiment in virtual theater--the Hamnet Players--and its first production.
Participants felt that something important was happening. A strong
"sense of occasion" or of "collaborative expectancy" (Bauman,
1977: 16) permeated the event. People made many comments
revealing their excitement. One person declared, "We are making
cyber-history" (logfile, December performance, L: 1969). Another
young participant gushed, "I want my MOM to see me!!!!"
(logfile, December performance, L: 1971). Participants' excitement
was also manifest in their desire to document the event and retain
some memory of it. Many people asked to receive a log of the event;
others announced that they were already logging it. Participants
even celebrated after the show by drinking virtual champagne passed
around by the person playing Laertes, who "pop[ped] the bubbly"
(logfile, December performance, L: 2404).
In the months that followed, the group performed "Hamnet" a second
time, and also developed and performed two additional scripts,
based on Shakespeare's Macbeth and Tennessee Williams'
Streetcar Named Desire. In the same witty spirit which
characterized the parody of Hamlet, the others were called "Pcbeth-
An IBM Clone," and "An IRC Channel Named #Desire". "Pcbeth"
played on the ongoing rivalry these days between IBM and IBM
compatible clones and Macintosh computers.
While we missed the online performances of "Hamnet", having
discovered the Hamnet Players too late, we observed those of "Pcbeth"
and "An IRC Channel Named #Desire" in real time. Moreover, three of us
even had minor roles in later productions. Tsameret Wachenhauser played
<usher>, "passing out programs" to those requesting them; in
"#Desire" she was also "sound girl," distributing snippets of New Orleans
jazz upon request. Haya Bechar-Israeli served as <ASM>, Assistant
Stage Manager in the first performance of "#Desire", and as <SM>,
Stage Manager, in the second. Brenda Danet played a minor, three-line role
as <Lady_R> in one production of "Pcbeth". This experience as
observers and participants in the online festivities complemented and
greatly enhanced our ability to analyze scripts and logs of performances.
Most of the richness of the original performance is preserved in the logs,
though the use of expressive means like blinking, beeping, boldface,
underlining or reverse video unfortunately is not, and there is no
substitute for being present and experiencing the flow of events in real
time.
In the past, we have always understood the "magic" of theater to happen in specially set aside spaces, in which a special form of communication between audience and performers sets off "sparks" of a unique kind. The very physicality of theater has always been a very important component of it. Indeed, some might argue that without the presence of the body, theater cannot exist (Barba and Saverese, 1991). The expression "virtual theater" is, consequently, an oxymoron, bringing together two contradictory elements in a manner which creates an explosion of new meaning.
The application of computers to theater-related purposes was
perhaps inevitable. Many people have recognized the inherently playful
nature of the computer as medium (e.g., Rafaeli, 1984, 1986; Myers, 1987;
Bolter, 1991; Reid,
1991; Reid, 1995;
Raymond, 1991;
Aycock, 1993;
Kuehn, 1993;
Lanham, 1993;
Ruedenberg et al., 1995;
Danet, et al. in press).
Richard Lanham believes that "the
personal computer...[is] a device of intrinsic dramaticality"
(Lanham, 1993: 6). The speed, flexibility, interactivity, and
richness of possibilities the computer offers--even in mere text,
let alone when multimedia options are available--turns every user
into a kind of "director" of his or her own show. Similarly, Brenda
Laurel argues that the theater metaphor is a powerful way to
understand all human-computer interaction (Laurel, 1991).
Playfulness is often present even in asynchronous forms of CMC,
including private
email and postings to listserv and Usenet discussion lists (see
Myers, 1987; Aycock, 1993;
Kuehn, 1993;
Baym, 1995,
this issue), but flowers particularly in synchronous chat modes
like IRC and MUDs and MOOs (
Bechar-Israeli, 1995, and
both this issue;
Reid, 1991;
Reid, 1995;
Ruedenberg, et al., 1995;
Danet, et al., in press).
The IRC software
contributes two additional features: its inherent script-like
quality and the fact that it employs direct speech as its main mode
of communication. This is not true of all synchronous chat modes--
MUDs and MOOs are based on a more indirect and descriptive
mode of representing action and interaction (see Marvin,
1995, this issue).
Bizarre as it may seem to those entertaining the idea of "theater" in cyberspace for the very first time, or with little or no first-hand experience of the Internet, in performances by the Hamnet Players, audience and performers are geographically dispersed around the globe. Each person, whether a performer or a member of the audience, is seated at a PC or mainframe computer, probably alone in most cases, and logged onto IRC and to a channel called #hamnet.
Nevertheless, performers and audience constitute a focused gathering: "the kind of interaction that occurs when persons gather close together and openly cooperate to sustain a single focus of attention, typically by taking turns at talking" (Goffman, 1963: 24). The challenge to sustain this focus can be considerable and is not unlike that in street theater. In outdoor, public settings, performers must often compete with traffic and noise for their audience's attention (Mason, 1992). Similarly, virtual performers on IRC must compete with IRCers' tendency to participate in more than one channel at a time, to drop in and out of channels, to send private messages back and forth, etc. Still, even a brief examination of logs of performances suffices to become convinced that attention is indeed mainly focused on a single activity. The IRC software guarantees orderly turns at talking, so that performers can usually produce their "lines" in the sequence called for by the script, just as is necessary in RL performances. Individuals cooperate effectively to produce a joint event with a clear beginning, middle and end, and even hold a "cast party" to celebrate it, afterwards. The Hamnet Players are not the only group [2] to experiment with virtual theater in the last few years, though we believe they have been able to achieve the most, to date. The group was founded by Stuart Harris:
an
Englishman now living in California, a veteran player on IRC, former actor,
and a computer professional and author of a manual on IRC (Harris, 1995a).
He gained three years' experience as a semi-professional actor on the
festival circuit, and two more as a professional in London and in
provincial repertory theater, with further experience as a director in
television (personal communication to Brenda Danet, July 25, 1995).
Harris's unique background and combination of talents led him to recognize
the dramatic potential of IRC.
Playful Irreverence: The Spirit of the Hamnet Players
Harris's irreverent spirit and love of wordplay--both features which
flourish in all Hamnet activities, to a degree perhaps even greater
than on IRC more generally (Bechar-Israeli, 1995, (this
issue)--are immediately evident in his email address and in his
regular nick (nickname) on IRC. Here is his email address:
The userid "sirrah" in his email address is an anagram: "Harris"
spelled backwards! Not everyone whose name could be turned into an
anagram would be observant enough to do so, let alone adopt it
in a playful, sly way, which challenges readers to decode it! But
that is not all: according to the Oxford English Dictionary,
"sirrah" is an archaic term of address to an inferior, "expressing
contempt, reprimand, or the assumption of authority on the part of
the
speaker." It was used in Shakespeare's time and even by
Shakespeare himself, as in Macbeth IV.ii.30.
Exploiting the opportunity to add a bit of expressive textual
material in parentheses, alongside his email address, as many
people do, Harris sometimes calls himself
"The_Tijuana_Piss_Artist." This is an irreverent way of hinting
that he is a "laid-back" person living near the Mexican border. In
a personal communication to Brenda Danet, he wrote that he often
goes to bars just over the border in Tijuana, where some people
call him "El Ingles" ("the Englishman").
This is his usual nick on IRC and is thus is in the same playful
spirit as his userid. Sometimes, instead of
"The_Tijuana_Piss_Artist", another expression appears alongside his
email address: sirrah@cg57.esnet.com (irco_ergo_sum)
"Irco ergo sum" is of course a playful reworking of cogito ergo
sum. Instead of Descartes' famous Latin epigram, "I think,
therefore I am," he has written, "I IRC, therefore I am"!.
The name "Hamnet Players" is particularly rich in cultural
resonances. A "ham" is "an ineffective or overemphatic actor, one
who rants or overacts" (Oxford English Dictionary). Thus, besides
being an obvious pun on Hamlet, the expression invites association
to "hamming it up on the Net"--behaving in an exaggerated,
theatrical fashion while logged onto the Internet. Another
meaning of "ham" is also pertinent, that in "ham radio,"
uninstitutionalized mediated radio communication, run by amateurs,
outside the formal broadcasting framework. Ham radio
culture shares with hacker culture , as well as with Net culture
more generally, something of its subversive, "alternative" nature.
Yet another association is to a son of Shakespeare, called
"Hamnet," who died at the age of 11 on August 11, 1596 (Muir,
1971); Hamnet was a twin-his sister Judith survived him. The son,
in turn, had been named after a friend of Shakespeare's, "a Baker
of Stratford," who was present at Shakespeare's funeral and was
remembered in his will.
The phrase "Hamnet Players" creates the impression that Harris
intended to develop an online repertory company, and that such a
company may have crystallized over time. This is not exactly the
case, although some continuity from one script and performance to
another was desirable. There has been considerable turnover from one
performance to another. Although there have been a few "faithfuls,"
by and large, fresh "faces" turned up at succeeding performances.
This was all to the good, as it happened, enhancing the prospects
for surprising, creative improvisation. In a retrospective comment,
with six performances behind him, Harris wrote:
The Hamnet Players and the Problem of Genre
Harris has many names for the activities of his group. On various
occasions he has used "Internet Theatre," "participatory
performance art forum," "an emerging art form," "a "romp," an
"extravaganza," "an obscene pastiche ," "virtual theater," and
even "virtual reality drama" (Harris, 1995b). We could add others:
"travesty," "spoof," "burlesque", "farrago," "take-off," "send-
up," and so on. Whatever term we choose, Hamnet scripts and
productions are quintessentially postmodern in their irreverent,
playful hijinks. At the same time, behind the playfulness are some
serious aspirations to use the technology of IRC in a new and
creative way. "Play" and "serious" frames of communication coexist
(Bateson, 1972; Handelman, 1976). What "inferential walk" (Eco, 1979:
32; cited in Hutcheon, 1985: 53), then, do Hamnet
scripts and performances invite us to take? To begin to answer
this question, we need to ask, what genre of literary activity or
popular culture is represented in the script?
There are many terms used in the analysis of literature, both high
and low, which might be applicable. One possibility is to call
Hamnet scripts a type of farce. Following Davis (1978), we see them
as farcical in many ways, though they are not farces. A farce is a
type of "broad, physical, visual comedy, whose effects are pre-eminently
theatrical and intended solely to entertain; comedy which is slapstick"
(Davis, 1978: 1). Like classic farces, Hamnet scripts do away with
psychological depth of characterization, reducing plots to such an extent that
a mere shell of the main characters survives. We can even argue that the
verbal frolics in Hamnet scripts and productions are the textual equivalent of
wild physical slapstick (Stewart, 1978). However, unlike true farce, Hamnet
scripts (as well as productions) also have serious intent. Parody is a more
persuasive candidate than farce. The parodic elements in Hamnet scripts would
be obvious to most people with some high school education in the West, who
have been exposed to Shakespeare in school, or have seen theater productions
or films of Shakespearean plays, even if they have no knowledge of the
Internet or little experience with computers. The obvious stylistic butchering
of Hamlet and Macbeth, turning these tragedies into laughable
comedies, makes it is easy to argue that we are dealing with a form of parody,
and let it go at that. Nash (1985), among others, distinguishes between two
forms of parody, that in which a traditional work is rewritten in modern
terms, versus the use of formal means from one period or text to produce
another work or text of entirely different content. By this criterion, Hamnet
scripts clearly fall into the former category. "Pastiche" is an apt term too:
pastiche involves a number of different styles pieced together to form a
medley; as Maurice Charney (1978: 15) puts it, "this is parody of the most
virtuoso sort." Linda Hutcheon's (1985) definition of parody as
"repetition with critical difference" is very pertinent. Postmodern parody,
she argues, is often devoid of ridicule. The new text does not necessarily
ridicule the old, as as often been the case in the past. Contemporary parody
may pay homage to canonical artistic creation of the past, yet at the same
time, serve as a means to innovate, to revolutionalize, to invite critical
thinking. Unlike earlier forms of parody, then, postmodern parody does not
require us to give priority to one of the two texts. "It is the fact that they
differ that parody emphasizes, and, indeed, dramatizes" (Hutcheon, 1985: 31).
Viewed from a different angle, as it were, Hamnet scripts can also be
seen as form of satirical commentary on IRC public life. Satire has
traditionally been thought of as judgmental--having victims and specific
objects of attack--not literary texts but social institutions and practices,
individuals or social groups. It can be savage or it can be gentle, but it is
always aggressive (Test, 1991; Hutcheon, 1985; 1994). The satirical style in
the Hamnet scripts is of a more contemporary variety, a heightening of the
aggressive, agonistic style of communication which is prevalent on IRC.
In our opinion, a case can be made for viewing these scripts both as parody
and as satire. It is a matter of figure and ground: if the focus is primarily
on the Shakespearean sources and what is done with them, we are in the realm
of parody; if it is primarily on the many references to IRC and computer
culture, we are in the realm of satire. Both alternative views are valid, and
reflect the ongoing dynamic interchange between a society and its cultural
products. For better or for worse, the spirit of playful aggression permeates
the IRC community.
Another aspect of the dual nature of Hamnet scripts is the tension between
form and content. Richard Lanham's concept of "bi-stability" is relevant here
(Lanham, 1993: 5). He adopted this concept to characterize the dynamic tension
between the form and content of digital messages. In Lanham's terms, do we
look through the extravagant play with signs to see the Shakespearean sources
and what has been done to them? Or do we look at the shimmering surface of
signs--the carnivalesque play with words and with typography? We need to do
both. In the discussion of genre thus far, we have focused on the script. In
fact, issues of genre pertain also to performances as well. We will return to
these issues at the end of the paper. We will restrict ourselves primarily to detailed
discussion of the first script, "Hamnet", and its two performances. Extended
discussion of the other scripts and performances will have to await further
analysis and publication. Our mandate is, first of all, to provide an
ethnographic account of Hamnet activities, to make them accessible to an
audience of persons not necessarily familiar with IRC or with Hamnet hijinks.
The achievements of the Hamnet Players constitute an important chapter in the
rise of writing as interactive performance. We will provide an overview of
often virtuoso play with language, typography, identity, and frames of
interaction, as well as brilliant improvisation based on motifs derived from
Shakespeare's works and other cultural content--all accomplished with the
meager means of today's computer keyboard and the possibilities of the IRC
software. Viewed more generally, our mandate is to document one aspect of
an important moment in the history of late 20th century adaptation to the new
technologies and the emergent culture of the Internet. The new digital
technologies change at dizzyingly rapid speed; before we know it, last year's
technology is "out" and something new is "in." The primarily textual
experiments in virtual theater studied here are already obsolescent, though
none the less important for their pioneering achievements. Productions by the
Hamnet Players have already included primitive attempts to incorporate
multimedia (Harris, 1995b) -- graphics
and even sound -- making mere textual performance
seem constricting--though it is the virtuoso use of such limited means that we
find so impressive, and which will be emphasized in this paper. Paradoxically,
something may be lost when rich multimedia possibilities become routinely
available. We hope that today's documentation will help future historians of
communication technologies figure out how tomorrow's society and culture got
to where they will be, 50, 100 or 500 years from now.
...since all participants in an irc conversation may
choose whatever nickname they wish to be known
by...and since an irc channel may contain many people
who contribute nothing, but merely watch, the elements
of theatre are there: a cast of characters with names
like Hamlet, Ophelia, Polonius etc. can be convened
and an audience invited to watch.
( Harris, 1995b: 500)
sirrah@cg57.estnet.com (The_Tijuana_Piss_Artist)
I intend to resist this temptation [of having a stable company]...
We need the pain of recruiting new people--to keep up the all-
important international mix, and to keep things growing. That's
not to say I'll ever insist on a totally fresh cast, just continue
to keep a balance
(personal electronic communication to Brenda Danet, July 25, 1995).
Hamnet article:
[continue]
[return to paper table of
contents]
[return to journal table of
contents]