Palmer, S. (2006) A Place to Play - Experimentation and Interactions Between Technology and Performance. In: White, C.A. & Oddey, A (eds.) The Potentials of Spaces : International Scenography and Performance for the 21st Century, Bristol: Intellect Books, pp.105-118. A place to play - experimentation and interactions between technology and performance Author: Scott Palmer Institutional affiliation: School of Performance & Cultural Industries, University of Leeds Abstract This article explores issues associated with the use of technology in performance. Why is the use of technology seen by many as a threat to the liveness of the performance event? Does the use of technology necessarily distract the audience and detract from the art? Can there be a seamless integration within the performance event? What are the implications for designing for performance in and for, an increasingly technologically oriented world? Drawing on the work of key practitioners (including Robert Wilson, Josef Svoboda, and Robert Lepage), I aim to investigate the links between the use of technology and the creation of scenographic statements on stage. Whilst concentrating primarily on the convergence of digital and projection technologies, the article will advocate new ways of working if such technology is to be integrated successfully into performance work. An account of an exploratory project involving dance, digital media and projection is provided as part of an argument that attempts to counter suggestions that performance and technology, art and science are fundamentally incompatible. Keywords; performance, technology, digital projection, collaboration, laboratory, scenography, Introduction "Advances in technology have allowed for greater scope, potential and excitement but has also created potential problems in the cohesiveness of making theatre." 1. Peter Hall's assertion, which has been echoed by other practitioners within theatre and dance, suggests that the use of technology is somehow at odds with the nature of making performance work. The implications are that despite the possibilities that new technologies provide, their impact on performance work is not entirely positive and their incorporation has profoundly affected the way in which performance work is made. If there ever was a cohesion in creating theatre, then technology seems to make the process even more difficult. It is as if technology is viewed by some as anti-artistic, and alien to the creative process and those who use it are frequently criticised for being more concerned with the mechanics of operation than the creative impact of the technology on stage. As a lighting designer, who has to use technology in order to contribute to performance, I have experienced this perception first hand, and have argued elsewhere for ways in which this particular relationship should be addressed. 2 Hall does however acknowledge that technology offers new possibilities, and it would be odd to suggest otherwise at the end of a century where artists have consciously sought to embrace and absorb evolving technologies in their work. So why is technology regarded with so much antipathy in the theatre? Partially, this mistrust is borne out of a basic misunderstanding. Technology frustrates, it baffles and it is often surrounded by mystery and its own jargon which alienates those who do not speak the language. It often requires additional time in the performance process to enable it to be integrated smoothly. This can enhance the suspicion felt by directors and performers alike, who may feel disoriented or threatened as other aspects of the