“I have thee not, and yet I see thee still”: Shakespeare’s Globe, Augmented Reality, and Actor Training

Abstract: This essay draws upon the fields of sports psychology, cognitive science, somatic research, and Practice-as-Research (PaR) to interrogate how the use of imagery—specifically visualizations of the Globe stage—can enhance and support actor training for Shakespeare. I explore how the use of Augmented Reality (AR) technology helps actors to embody Shakespeare via virtual rehearsals that storyboard an actor’s gaze, and I illuminate how an understanding of this form of performance documentation cultivates a highly personalized connection to Shakespeare’s texts, improved confidence, and clarity in performance. By expanding the landscape of actor training to incorporate the AR Globe 360 app, actors in training can create a performance score that serves as both an artifact of and a blueprint for performance.