The experience of theater is quite unique: You enter a hall filled with seats facing a curtain over a stage, and at a certain moment the lights go out, the curtain rises, and a seemingly other world is revealed – lying physically right there in front of you. What is the nature of this ‘other world’? Does the term ‘virtual’ capture it? If it does, how exactly, and if not, why not? While such questions have surely been addressed from the perspective of theater theory, this blog post rather discusses them from the point of view of The Virtual Space Theory.

It might initially seem natural to describe the phenomenon of theater as ‘virtual’, but this is mainly due to the multiple inconsistent uses of this term as discussed in a previous post. And although it might still make sense metaphorically, this term does not fully capture the essence of the issue. The key to realizing this is to ask ourselves: where is what we experience in a theater?
To begin with, according to The Virtual Space Theory, visual experiences can only take place in one of three types of space: physical, mental, and virtual. Physical space is the physical world in which our bodies and their surroundings are located; mental space is our mind’s eye, where we replay visual memories and construct visual ideas; and virtual space is the space that is seen through pictorial images of any kind. The exact distinction between the three as well as this particular definition of virtual space are fully elaborated in my book “The Architecture of Virtual Space” and in the article derived from it.
From this point of view, then, in which of these three spaces does theater occur? The answer is simple and straightforward: in physical space. Since the stage is physical, the sets are physical, and the actors are physical – the phenomenon of theater occurs in physical space. To understand theater, therefore, is to understand what exactly happens in the physical world during the performance of a theater play. This is probably best accomplished by comparing the physical stage before and after the curtain rises:
For example, let’s take a theatrical performance of the ancient Greek play Oedipus Rex by Sophocles. If we were to walk onto the stage and peek behind the curtain just before the performance begins, what might we find? A physical stage that is within the physical building of the particular theater we are visiting; various props and constructions made of wood or plaster, covered in paint so as to appear to be stone, arranged such that they seem like part of the ancient Greek city of Thebes; and actors wearing make-up and costumes soon after having worn jeans and talking on a cell phone just a little while earlier. And yet, once the lights go out and the curtain rises, the physical space of the stage and everything on it is totally transformed: What now lies before us is the ancient city of Thebes, it is built of stone, and the people walking in it are living and talking ancient Greeks. Furthermore, it is precisely because this is so that we even go to the theater.
What exactly is the nature of this transformation? Since it is all happening in the physical world, the term ‘virtual’ does not quite capture it. Alternatively, to say that it’s all in our mind does not account for what is providing such an experience in the first place. Rather, what is happening here is a simulation: Within the socially agreed convention of the time and space of a theatrical performance, the stage, sets, and actors function as physical simulacra (or ‘objects that perform a simulation’). Concertedly, they transform from mere stage, sets, and actors to become ancient Thebes, buildings, kings and queens. Yet there is nothing virtual about it.
This, however, does not mean that virtual space can never participate in the formation of such a theatrical experience – quite the contrary, it frequently does. To create the simulation of a (factual or fictional) physical place on a theater stage, a theatrical production is not limited only to props and physical constructions, but may also employ pictorial images:

Often made on a large scale and strategically positioned on the stage, the virtual places that are seen through such images can be made to appear to be direct extensions of the physical space of the stage. In such cases, the virtual places and virtual objects that are seen through these images function as virtual simulacra.
When such images are placed alongside the physical props that are located on the stage, virtual and physical simulacra seamlessly merge in the creation of a continuous visible world – a simulation of another time and place enacted for us in the physical space of the theater hall at the present moment.
Architectural drawings and models are primarily a means of communication. They allow a team of planners to communicate their ideas during the process of designing a building, they allow them to communicate the proposal to the client, and they enable the builders to be directed towards its correct construction. For such purpose, planners have several means of communication available, and each of them embodies a different kind of relationship to the physically constructed building:
Drawing – Plans, elevations, and sections are a language, or what I call in my book 



