Theater as Data is, in the words of its author, a reflection on methodology. Using examples from classical French drama, collaboration networks in Australian theatre, contemporary Portuguese choreography, and his own experience in computational analysis of theatre practices in Singapore and Indonesia, Escobar examines the use of computational methods and digital data in theatre research. The book is divided into three sections: the first one explores the epistemological challenges posed by computational research in relation to theatre studies. The second section is a guided tour of those central areas within theatre that can potentially be modelled as data using computational research: words, relationships, motion and location. The last section considers the material and ethical implications of using computational methods in theatre research, as well as the part software programming plays in theatre practices.
Through an engaging narrative, the author explores the ways in which scientists work, and how these methods differ from artistic practices, problematizing the divergence between these two manners of producing knowledge: one which needs to validate and verify every response it delivers, and the other which values contextualized and subjective answers.
The author makes a practical division between data-driven and data-assisted methodologies, in order to describe their potential in theatre research. Escobar claims that data-driven research places more emphasis on replicability, while data-assisted research prioritizes interpretation. However, for Escobar, computational theatre investigation requires a sophisticated equilibrium. If data-driven analysis does not acknowledge the role of interpretation and subjectivity, it will contradict the essential principles of theatre research. Equally, if data-assisted research has no replicable structures, how can data possibly enhance conventional theatre research?
Escobar states that, on the one hand, replicability and objectivity are at the centre of a realist view of knowledge, usually closer to the sciences. On the other hand, interpretation and subjectivity are the foundation of a constructivist approach to knowledge, conventionally closer to the humanities. Although this polarity is not new, the author establishes unique bridges between sciences and humanities, starting from the basis that art is a valid way of understanding reality and creating new knowledge.
In theatre and performance studies, we customarily distrust the use of qualitative data in the study of creative processes or artistic production. However, this book is an invitation to enter the digital world with a critical and creative new perspective, where these methodological crossings – between two very different (and often opposing) manners of creating knowledge – open a path towards unexplored dimensions. It is in this connection between objectivity and subjectivity that the contribution of this book lies. Furthermore, this dialogue could enhance interdisciplinary work, for instance the role of art and humanities in the climate crisis, an extremely relevant emerging ground in the humanities. It is a ‘must-read’ that is able to make connections in areas where communion is usually deemed impossible.
