UC Davis

Experimenting with Shakespeare contends that play is a method of knowledge-making and that Shakespearean theater can be a generative model for laboratory life. The book reflects on the history of the ModLab at UC Davis, an experimental media space bringing together computer scientists, historians of science, theorists of performance, literary scholars, and media designers. Gina Bloom, Evan Buswell, Colin Milburn, and Nick Toothman describe how the lab’s improvisatory methods led to the development of Play the Knave, an award-winning video game that allows players to perform selections of Shakespeare’s plays in a variety of virtual environments. Experimenting with Shakespeare shows how video games can become instruments for exploring the edges of disciplines and argues for the centrality of play to collaborative work in the sciences, the arts, and the digital humanities.