The digital world, Shakespeare and the Spanish Golden Age Theatre: possibilities and limits

Abstract

Advances in digital technology have greatly affected our understanding of what it means to stage Shakespeare and, by extension, Golden Age Spanish theatre in the present moment. Digitalization has radically changed the way we approach and see theatre, what that theatre is, how it is disseminated, and the kind  of cultural impact it may have. Our point of departure is the question raised by  Christie Carson and Peter Kirwan, editors of Shakespeare and the Digital Word, which appeared in 2014, as to whether Shakespeareans are acting on or reacting to innovations in communication and technical media, whether research and practice are leading or following technological innovations. These issues are further elaborated in James Bulman’s volume, The Oxford Handbook of Shakespeare and Performance (2017). Reference will be made to certain ideas in that book which arguably concern the dissemination (and survival) of Golden Age Spanish theatre in today’s world. Finally, we will address the cultural impact of the coronavirus-19 pandemic, especially as it has provoked sustained digital dissemination of the arts.