Digital performance repository

Yasmine Agocs

Identity refers to components of oneself that help us define who we are. This might include sexuality, ethnicity, age, etc. Various components come together to become part of each unique individual, while also allowing for the individual to find belonging in communities where others will have similar identities and experiences. Identity can influence our everyday lives based on how we interact with others, which communities we associate ourselves with, and how we engage in socialization.

Much of our identity influences and is influenced by our culture and surroundings. As we experience and navigate our day-to-day lives, what we come across will ultimately influence how we behave with others. This behaviour is a performance, a reinterpretation of our own reactions and a reflection of actions experienced; our own identities are portrayed through our behaviour when we connect and communicate with others (Corts 113).

Identity is connected to how we react to real world experiences, but in an increasingly digital world, how is identity evolving? Are online communities as influential as real life culture? Does social media allow individuals to portray authentic online identities or are they always performed for the sake of belonging? Social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram allow for us to perform aspects of our identities through unique personalized posts and the joining of posts and profiles together through hashtags and algorithms. Each check-in and thumb-numbing scroll acts as a daily self-performance, feeding the algorithm and followers and giving a taste of personal identity and identification (Hadley 89). The digital space allows for the individual to witness other small performances of people at hyper-speed.

While individuals online may feel that they are able to be their authentic selves with each post and video, as has become increasingly clear in the past few years with the rise of fake news, social media platforms both directly and indirectly influence the ideas, values, and communities of each individual’s feed. Each platform and online game has limits on how much one may type in a single post, gender selections, avatars, and more (see affordances); algorithms also mean certain information is displayed or hidden from each particular user. As Corts notes, there are two components that may encompass the online environment: reflexivity and habitus. Reflexivity is identity creation that results from interactions and an awareness of this creation after the action has occurred, while habitus refers to the defined boundaries that society implements on individuals. Creators of online spaces impose these boundaries while simultaneously encouraging identity and creativity to be the center of focus (Corts 114); individuals online then manage relationships with others that share similar identities within the boundaries that have been imposed upon them (Hadley 91).

While there are boundaries that inhibit participants to express and explore identity, there are artists that expand their work within the confines of digital spaces. Podplays are one digital mode in which playwrights can share work with online audiences. Artist and playwright Drew Hayden Taylor utilizes this form to expand his identity as an Ojibway man in “Sir John A: Acts of a Gentrified Ojibway Rebellion” (Mullin & Tolley), discussing the intricacies of culture and erasure in a modern context. This Podplay allows for Taylor’s work to reach a wide range of audience and online theatre-lovers. Another mode of exploring identity is through music videos, which are now widely available on YouTube. Halluci Nation and Lido Pimienta’s collaboration for “The Light II” explores both personal and cultural identity. Personally, I found the combination of Indigenous and Columbian-Chilean identity within the video to speak to me as an individual who is also Chilean; there is a similar sense of belonging and having a voice heard through content and performances online. Online performances can also provide relatability in times of feeling one’s identity is unseen and unheard (Green “A Fun Place”), making the presence of communities a crucial element in online social platforms. Identity online can encourage an embodied experience and collective identification, furthering the spectator’s humanity and sense of community (Watkin 94).

Works Cited

Corts, Alicia. “(Un)limited: Virtual Performance Spaces and Digital Identity.” Theatre Symposium, vol. 24, no. 1, 2016, pp. 113-28, https://doi.org/10.1353/tsy.2016.0009.

Green, Jesse. “A Fun Place to Play, if the Show Fits.” The New York Times, The New York Times Company, 2021.

Hadley, Bree. Theatre, Social Media, and Meaning Making. Palgrave Macmillan Cham, 2017, pp. 74-108, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-54882-1.

Mills, Liz. “Theatre Voice: Practice, Performance and Cultural Identity.” South African Theatre Journal, vol. 23, no. 1, 2009, pp. 84-93, https://doi.org/10.1080/10137548.2009.9687903.

Mullin, Laura, & Tolley, Chris. “The Show Must Go On: ‘Sir John A: Acts of A Gentrified Ojibway Rebellion’ (Interview with Drew Hayden Taylor)”. PlayMe, CBC Listen, Uploaded July 9, 2020, https://www.cbc.ca/listen/cbc-podcasts/211-playme/episode/15786409-the-show-must-go-on-sir-john-a-acts-of-a-gentrified-ojibway-rebellion-interview-with-drew-hayden-taylor.

The Halluci Nation. “The Halluci Nation – The Light II Ft. Lido Pimienta (Official Music Video)”. YouTube, Uploaded Nov. 8, 2017, https://youtu.be/N7chvQWL9rI.

Watkin, Jessica. “Meditations on Mediations: Feeling Digital Performances.” Canadian Theatre Review, University of Toronto Press, vol. 186, 2021, pp. 91-95, https://muse.jhu.edu/article/790291.