Curtain Time 20:00 GMT: Experiments with Virtual Theater on Internet Relay Chat

Abstract

This is a study of the Hamnet Players, a group who perform parodies of Shakespeare and Tennessee Williams on IRC (Internet Relay Chat). We focus primarily on their first production, a hilarious parody of Hamlet, called “Hamnet”. The main source of humor is the playfully irreverent juxtaposition of Shakespearean plot, characters and language with materials from Net and IRC culture. Hamnet productions are currently primarily textual, but the players are already experimenting with graphics and sound. We analyze (1) the substantive and stylistic features of the “Hamnet” script; (2) the logistics of virtual production; (3) improvisational play with the Shakespearean canon, the “theater game,” language itself, the IRC software, and the situation of typed online interaction. Our approach draws on sociolinguistics and discourse analysis; the ethnography of oral genres of verbal art; Shakespearean studies and analyses of literary genres; research on communication and popular culture; and recent studies of language, play and performance in computer-mediated communication. Hamnet productions are not only experiments in virtual theater; they are also carnivals of wordplay, chock-full of wit and humor. They provide new and important evidence for the rise of interactive digital writing as stylized performance.