Live Performance in the Age of Technological Mediatisation

ABSTRACT Based on research into the work of live performers in the UK during and after the COVID‐19 pandemic and utilising Walter Benjamin's (1969) concept of authentic, or ‘auratic’ art, this article examines the use of livestreaming platforms by these performers during this time. In doing so, it reveals how, despite structural inequalities, this technology offered performers not only the chance to continue working but also to broaden ideas about what constitutes the auratic qualities of live performance. Specifically, as interactive livestreaming technology expanded the performative space of 'live', it also enhanced the scope for intersubjective participation amongst a wider audience. As a consequence, it provided a means for performers to sustain their livelihoods and explore new ways for their work to remain meaningful and immediate, thereby raising questions about the role of ontology as a yardstick to evaluate the nature of ‘live’ entertainment and the work that produces it.