“The Future Is Gonna Be Better Than Today”: The Metamodern Theatre of Verbatim Musical Public Domain

Benjamin Broadribb

doi:10.1515/jcde-2025-2004

Article

“The Future Is Gonna Be Better Than Today”: The Metamodern Theatre of Verbatim Musical Public Domain

Benjamin Broadribb
completed his PhD at the Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham. His research focusses on how twenty-first-century screen adaptations and appropriations of Shakespeare both reflect and contribute to the wider structure of feeling that characterizes the opening decades of the 2000 s. His wider research interests include the broader social and cultural sensibility of the twenty-first century, particularly metamodernism. With Gemma Kate Allred and Erin Sullivan, he co-edited Lockdown Shakespeare: New Evolutions in Performance and Adaptation (2022). His article, “‘Very Tragical Mirth’: Performing A Midsummer Night’s Dream on Screen(s) During Lockdown,” was published in Shakespeare Survey (2023). He has contributed chapters to Shakespeare on Screen: Romeo and Juliet (2023), Shakespearean Biofiction on the Contemporary Stage and Screen (2023), and Authenticity and Adaptation (forthcoming). Since April 2023, he has served as Performance Reviews Editor for Shakespeare Bulletin.

Published/Copyright: April 29, 2025

Published by

Become an author with De Gruyter Brill

Author Information Explore this Subject

From the journal Journal of Contemporary Drama in English Volume 13 Issue 1

Abstract

Metamodernism has increasingly been put forward as the predominant cultural logic of the opening decades of the twenty-first century, shifting away from or beyond the postmodern sensibility of the late twentieth century. This article puts forward the verbatim musical Public Domain, written and performed by Francesca Forristal and Jordan Paul Clarke, as a key example of metamodern theatre. Through close analysis of Public Domain’s livestreamed run from Southwark Playhouse in January 2021, performed under lockdown restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic, this article demonstrates how Forristal and Clarke, together with director Adam Lenson, achieve metamodernism’s oscillating aesthetic and emphasis on felt experience. I explore how Public Domain utilises the verbatim musical form, their chosen subject matter of social media and online culture, and pandemic performance modes and aesthetics to evince a metamodern sensibility. Specifically, I consider the “depthiness” of Forristal and Clarke’s music, lyrics, and performances, and how this was brought out further through Lenson’s directorial decisions for Public Domain’s livestreamed run. In doing so, I propose that Public Domain is exemplary in demonstrating the metamodern shift in theatrical aesthetics and online culture as well as providing an important cultural artefact of pandemic performance.

Keywords: metamodernism; depthiness; verbatim theatre; musical theatre; digital theatre; COVID-19; pandemic performance; Francesca Forristal; Jordan Paul Clarke; Adam Lenson; Public Domain

About the author

Benjamin Broadribb

completed his PhD at the Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham. His research focusses on how twenty-first-century screen adaptations and appropriations of Shakespeare both reflect and contribute to the wider structure of feeling that characterizes the opening decades of the 2000 s. His wider research interests include the broader social and cultural sensibility of the twenty-first century, particularly metamodernism. With Gemma Kate Allred and Erin Sullivan, he co-edited Lockdown Shakespeare: New Evolutions in Performance and Adaptation (2022). His article, “‘Very Tragical Mirth’: Performing A Midsummer Night’s Dream on Screen(s) During Lockdown,” was published in Shakespeare Survey (2023). He has contributed chapters to Shakespeare on Screen: Romeo and Juliet (2023), Shakespearean Biofiction on the Contemporary Stage and Screen (2023), and Authenticity and Adaptation (forthcoming). Since April 2023, he has served as Performance Reviews Editor for Shakespeare Bulletin.

Works Cited

“A Few Weeks Before Max’s Birth, Priscilla and Mark Took a Morning to Reflect and Record Their Hopes for Their Daughter and All Children of Her Generation.” Facebook, uploaded by Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, 1 Dec. 2015. Web. 20 Oct. 2024. <https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=554704454679197>.Search in Google Scholar

Akbar, Arifa. “Public Domain Review: Social-Media Musical Swipes at Facebook.” The Guardian, 18 Jan. 2021. Web. 22 Oct. 2024. <https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2021/jan/18/public-domain-review>.Search in Google Scholar

Allred, Gemma Kate. “Notions of Liveness in Lockdown Performance.” Lockdown Shakespeare: New Evolutions in Performance and Adaptation. Eds. Gemma Kate Allred, Benjamin Broadribb, and Erin Sullivan. London: Bloomsbury Arden, 2022. 65–86. Print.10.5040/9781350247833.ch-003Search in Google Scholar

–-, and Benjamin Broadribb. “Introduction: Cultural Cartography of the Digital Lockdown Landscape.” Lockdown Shakespeare: New Evolutions in Performance and Adaptation. Eds. Gemma Kate Allred, Benjamin Broadribb, and Erin Sullivan. London: Bloomsbury Arden, 2022. 1–19. Print.10.5040/9781350247833.ch-00ISearch in Google Scholar

Boffone, Trevor. Social Media in Musical Theatre. London: Bloomsbury, 2024. Print.10.5040/9781350358591Search in Google Scholar

Bradshaw, Peter. “The Social Network: Review.” The Guardian, 14 Oct. 2010. Web. 22 Oct. 2024. <https://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/oct/14/the-social-network-review>.Search in Google Scholar

Broadribb, Benjamin. “Lockdown Shakespeare and the Metamodern Sensibility.” Lockdown Shakespeare: New Evolutions in Performance and Adaptation. Eds. Gemma Kate Allred, Benjamin Broadribb, and Erin Sullivan. London: Bloomsbury Arden, 2022. 45–63. Print.10.5040/9781350247833.ch-002Search in Google Scholar

Cavanagh, Paige [@paige_cavanagh]. “Anyone else just lost and feel empty atm, proper spaced out dunno what to do. First lockdown was a blessing with the sun shining 24/7 but now it’s dark at 4’oclock and a lonely world .” Twitter, 12 Nov. 2020, 10:36 p.m. Web. 22 Oct. 2024. <https://twitter.com/paige_cavanagh/status/1327002351304105984>.Search in Google Scholar

Cavendish, Dominic. “Public Domain, Southwark Playhouse, Review: Like Social Media, It Demands Attention but Leaves You Feeling Empty.” The Telegraph, 16 Jan. 2021. Web. 22 Oct. 2024. <https://www.telegraph.co.uk/theatre/what-to-see/public-domain-southwark-playhouse-review-like-social-media-demands>.Search in Google Scholar

Davison, Joe [@auburnjamjoe]. “‘That’s what I was taught matters in this country’ is a lyric I keep coming back to. Maybe the pathos given to it by @jordanclarkemus helps, but I somehow find Zuckerberg very sympathetic and vulnerable in this moment. #WatchPublicDomain.” Twitter, 21 Jan. 2021, 10:03 p.m. Web. 22 Oct. 2024. <https://x.com/auburnjamjoe/status/1352361259342114816>.Search in Google Scholar

“Digital Programme.” PublicDomainShow. Web. 22 Oct. 2024. <https://web.archive.org/web/20210528183452/https://publicdomainshow.com/programme>.Search in Google Scholar

Drayton, Tom. Metamodernism in Contemporary British Theatre: A Politics of Hope/lessness. London: Bloomsbury, 2024. Print.10.5040/9781350286450Search in Google Scholar

Elgot, Jessica, and Peter Walker. “England to Enter Toughest Covid Lockdown since March.” The Guardian, 4 Jan. 2021. Web. 22 Oct. 2024. <https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/04/england-to-enter-toughest-covid-lockdown-since-march>.Search in Google Scholar

Ellis, Emma Grey. “Mark Zuckerberg’s Testimony Birthed an Oddly Promising Memepocalypse.” Wired, 11 Apr. 2018. Web. 22 Oct. 2024. <https://www.wired.com/story/mark-zuckerberg-memepocalypse>.Search in Google Scholar

“Facebook Here Together (UK).” YouTube, uploaded by Facebook, 25 Apr. 2018. Web. 22 Oct. 2024. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4zd7X98eOs>.Search in Google Scholar

Fuchs, Barbara. Theater of Lockdown: Digital and Distanced Performance in a Time of Pandemic. London: Methuen Drama, 2022. Print.10.5040/9781350231849Search in Google Scholar

Garson, Cyrielle. Beyond Documentary Realism: Aesthetic Transgressions in British Verbatim Theatre. Berlin: de Gruyter, 2021. Print.10.1515/9783110715767Search in Google Scholar

Hall, Kimberly. “Public Penitence: Facebook and the Performance of Apology.” Social Media + Society 6.2 (2020). Web. 22 Oct. 2024. <https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305120907945>.10.1177/2056305120907945Search in Google Scholar

Jameson, Fredric. Postmodernism, or, The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism. Durham: Duke UP, 1991. Print.10.1215/9780822378419Search in Google Scholar

Lenson, Adam. Breaking into Song: Why You Shouldn’t Hate Musicals. London: Salamander Street, 2021. Print.Search in Google Scholar

Mak, Aaron. “Facebook’s New TV Ad Doesn’t Inspire a Lot of Confidence.” Slate, 27 Apr. 2018. Web. 22 Oct. 2024. <https://slate.com/technology/2018/04/facebook-new-ad-accidental-reminder-biggest-problems.html>.Search in Google Scholar

“Mark Zuckerberg’s 2004 Interview: See How Far He and Facebook Have Come.” YouTube, uploaded by CNBC, 17 Apr. 2018. Web. 20 Oct. 2024. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUNX3azkZyk>.Search in Google Scholar

Matyszczyk, Chris. “Mark Zuckerberg Savaged by South Park.” CNET, 12 Oct. 2017. Web. 22 Oct. 2024. <https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/mark-zuckerberg-savaged-by-south-park>.Search in Google Scholar

“Public Domain Musical | ‘Rise and Conquer’ Performance.” YouTube, uploaded by WhatsOnStage, 12 Dec. 2020. Web. 22 Oct. 2024. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tdAej5QGuY>.Search in Google Scholar

Schulze, Daniel. Authenticity in Contemporary Theatre and Performance: Make It Real. London: Bloomsbury, 2017. Print.Search in Google Scholar

Stevenson, Georgie. “Why you need to KEEP GOING pep talk if your feeling lost or unmotivated!” YouTube. 21 Aug. 2020. Web. 22 Oct. 2024. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qx_gKNNcbwI>.Search in Google Scholar

Stewart, Heather. “PM Announces ‘Tier 4’ Covid Curbs and Curtails Christmas Mixing in England.” The Guardian, 19 Dec. 2020. Web. 22 Oct. 2024. <https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/19/pm-announces-tier-4-covid-curbs-and-curtails-christmas-mixing-in-england>.Search in Google Scholar

Svich, Caridad. “Introduction.” Toward a Future Theatre: Conversations During a Pandemic. Ed. Caridad Svich. London: Bloomsbury, 2022. 1–8. Print.10.5040/9781350241091-003Search in Google Scholar

Tiku, Nitasha. “Facebook Launches a New Ad Campaign with an Old Message.” Wired, 26 Apr. 2018. Web. 22 Oct. 2024. <https://www.wired.com/story/facebook-launches-a-new-ad-campaign-with-an-old-message>.Search in Google Scholar

van den Akker, Robin, and Timotheus Vermeulen. “Periodising the 2000 s; or, The Emergence of Metamodernism.” Metamodernism: Historicity, Affect, and Depth After Postmodernism. Eds. Robin van den Akker et al. London: Rowman and Littlefield, 2017. 1–19. Print.Search in Google Scholar

Vermeulen, Timotheus. “The New ‘Depthiness.’” e-flux 61.1 (2015). Web. 22 Oct. 2024. <https://www.e-flux.com/journal/61/61000/the-new-depthiness>.Search in Google Scholar

–-. “Metamodern Depth, or ‘Depthiness.’” Metamodernism: Historicity, Affect, and Depth After Postmodernism. Eds. Robin van den Akker et al. London: Rowman and Littlefield, 2017. 147–150. Print.Search in Google Scholar

–-, and Robin van den Akker. “Notes on Metamodernism.” Journal of Aesthetics & Culture 2.1 (2010). Web. 22 Oct. 2024. <https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.3402/jac.v2i0.5677>.10.3402/jac.v2i0.5677Search in Google Scholar

Wood, Alex. “First Listen: Public Domain Musical. Which Had Its World Premiere Disrupted by Self-Isolation.” WhatsOnStage, 12 Dec. 2020. Web. 22 Oct. 2024. <https://www.whatsonstage.com/london-theatre/news/first-listen-public-domain-musical-southwark_53013.html>. Search in Google Scholar

Published Online: 2025-04-29

Published in Print: 2025-04-24

You are currently not able to access this content.

Articles in the same Issue

https://doi.org/10.1515/jcde-2025-2004

Keywords for this article

metamodernism; depthiness; verbatim theatre; musical theatre; digital theatre; COVID-19; pandemic performance; Francesca Forristal; Jordan Paul Clarke; Adam Lenson; Public Domain