Robots on Stage in Contemporary Performance

This chapter charts the appearance of robots in contemporary performance and considers the philosophical, political, and aesthetic concerns they raise. From industrial robots to ultra-realistic humanoids, public fascination with robots and the proliferation of emerging technologies have sparked a rich period of experimentation by theater and performance artists. Theater provides a site for rethinking and reconfiguring our interdependent and evolving relationship with machines, and robots present new dramaturgical considerations for artists. Robots on stage create possibilities for robot actors to function not only as sophisticated technological puppets, but as performers in their own right. This chapter identifies four paradigms in robot performance: mimesis, communication and control, machine ecologies, and hybridity. Through these paradigms, we witness how robots on stage both reprise old anxieties and stoke new fears about technology while also functioning as catalysts for reimagining hybrid futures and new ways of relating to machines.