Desktop Theater

Desktop Theater was a digital performance project created by Adriene Jenik and Lisa Brenneis that ran from 1997 to 2002. The project consisted of a series of experiments in network performances using online discussion rooms and visual chat applications such as The Palace. The objective was to introduce a compelling way for the public to interact with theater online, and the audiences' responses in the chat room were treated as an important element of the work. The project created over 40 web-based performances during its lifetime.
Using The Palace, the performers would choose avatars and create adaptations of stage performances. One adaptation was waitingforgodot.com, based on Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett. Everything that would conventionally be seen on a live stage, e.g. scenery, gestures, emotions, and dialogue, was presented in a 2D cyberformance heard in computer speech.
Besides adaptations of plays, Desktop Theater also created interactive improvisations, workshops and other activities.
Plays
*waitingforgodot.com - Third Annual Digital Storytelling Festival (1997)
*Spectacled Society - Palace Mansion (2000)
*The World of Park - Palace Mansion (2000)
*Invisible Interludes - Santaman's Harvest Digital Arts & Culture (1999)
*WaterWars - Transit III Festival of Women in Theater, Odin teatret, Holstebro, Denmark and the Genetically Enhanced Palace (2001)<ref name="ajenik_archive"/>