Abstract
‘Pics or it didn’t happen’: if it’s not on social media, did it really happen? This colloquial phrase, which became popular in 2017 gives a helpful glimpse into concept of post-reality. Post- reality in this context refers to the idea that something is only considered true or real when it is affirmed by other people. Though post-reality is a recent phenomenon, an engagement with questions of the nature of truth and reality can be found throughout theatre theory. Theatre theorist and philosopher Plato defines truth and reality in The Republic (373 B.C.) while Denis Diderot reflects on truth on stage in Conversation on ‘The Natural Son’ (1757) and The Paradox of Acting (1773-1778), and Walter Benjamin reflects on the nature of authenticity in The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction (1935). While these theorists are by no means the only three theatre theorists examining truth, reality and authenticity, the way in which they define their terms has significant implications for how we live in a post-reality society in Canada in 2017. This paper places these three theorists in conversation with each other within the context of post-reality: a conversation which has significant implications for the theatre and world of post-reality in 2018.
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