UpStage: An Online Tool for Real-Time Storytelling

Abstract

UpStage is an online platform for real-time interactive performances. In this article two of the originators of the project outline its history and discuss selected works created in the platform. Examples from performances illustrate how UpStage has been used as a collaborative storytelling tool, including two specific examples of the use of UpStage in educational contexts. Techniques for devising and sharing real-time online stories are discussed, and the notion of an ‘intermedial audience’ proposed, recognising the new relationship between remote performers and the online audience. In conclusion the authors introduce a new direction in the development of the software, and suggest that live online storytelling has a vital role to play in enabling geographically dispersed communities and the collective ownership of digital tools and spaces.