Abstract

This essay analyzes the age-old struggle of Life and Death as it plays out in the new digital medium. It begins with a consideration of the dramatizations of an on-line improvisational group known as the Plaintext Players. Life and Death are discussed as contestants in a great morality play; as psychological driving force in the performances; as formal textual realm; and as thematic setting. The article goes on to discuss the complex negotiations of subject and object in the intricate interactions of dialogue, action, and spoofing in MOO performances. Finally the author considers “Real Life as Afterlife,” as one of the Players’ performances is transposed onto the real-life stage.

pdf

Share