I have started to look into the CIDOC Conceptual Reference Model for cultural heritage metadata as part of my investigation of the concept of Semantic Theatre.

An events-based approach is used in a lot of ontological modelling. Thanks to Athanasios Velios, I learned that bookbinding can be broken down into a sequence of events, and this is an obvious route to try when thinking about how to model a performance event.

I think there is potential for relating the “objects” in the play – the performers as well as set, props, etc, – to concepts within the play. So far, I have been focusing mainly on modelling relationships between ideas within the script (e.g. lines where this character uses the ocean as a metaphor for life) and possibly comparing across scripts (e.g. which lines reference King Lear) but it would be interesting to include props and actors as well (e.g. in which scenes is a clock used as a reference to death). The use of a prop could easily be modelled as a distinct event within a play, and this would facilitate relating literary and metaphorical ideas to the object rather than just to the words in the script.

The play itself – Ocean Opera – will be performed at the Montreal Fringe Festival in June.