As we continue to think about what entertainment will look like in the media landscape in the coming years, especially as our culture continues to fragment, I want to off-road for a second into non-electronic media. As broadcast and streaming fragments, I think we are going to see a renaissance of live performances. Or maybe in the wake of the Eras tour, we’re going to see more of a renaissance of live performances.
There are two reasons for this: first, as media continues to fragment we’re going to see people turn more and more to local sources of entertainment. And while some of that will undoubtedly be digital in nature, nothing beats the live stage for cost effectiveness and scalability.
Second, AI is nearly at the point where it can write better screenplays than people. It’s certainly more and more essential for helping people write, and it’s probably just a matter of time before screenwriters strikes are a thing of the past. I’ll come back to this in a later post. Whatever the other effects, the growth of AI is just going to add to the digital divide between human beings. This is a divide that we are going to be driven to overcome–we are after all social creatures, made to live in groups and in community with others. The more isolated we are the more we desire the presence of others. Where the digital age has driven us apart, this is unsustainable in the long run, and an easy and affordable way to bring us back together is the stage.
So, keep an eye on the plays in your area. Not just the professional ones that none of us can afford to go to–the community theaters, college, and high school plays are the things to keep our eyes on. We’re going to see a steady growth of these, especially if they keep their prices reasonable in our age of inflation. Watch especially for a revival of reinterpretations of classic plays (I wouldn’t hate seeing the Greeks back in action, to say nothing of Shakespeare…).
Back to digital next time!
Dr. Coyle Neal is co-host of the City of Man Podcast an Amazon Associate (which is linked in this blog), and an Associate Professor of Political Science at Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, MO
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