<s>
ATHEMOO	B-Protocol
was	O
a	O
MOO	B-Application
created	O
in	O
1995	O
By	O
Juli	O
Burk	O
at	O
the	O
University	O
of	O
Hawaii	O
,	O
as	O
an	O
online	O
performance	O
and	O
teaching	O
space	O
,	O
for	O
a	O
professionals	O
and	O
academics	O
who	O
were	O
interested	O
in	O
theatre	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
MOO	B-Application
is	O
an	O
online	O
text	O
based	O
reality	O
which	O
is	O
used	O
for	O
socialising	O
or	O
game	O
playing	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ATHEMOO	B-Protocol
was	O
developed	O
in	O
conjunction	O
with	O
the	O
Association	O
for	O
Theatre	O
in	O
Higher	O
Education	O
(	O
ATHE	O
)	O
and	O
was	O
designed	O
originally	O
under	O
the	O
auspices	O
of	O
providing	O
a	O
discussion	O
space	O
for	O
people	O
who	O
were	O
unable	O
to	O
attend	O
conferences	O
on	O
the	O
issues	O
of	O
performance	O
theatre	O
in	O
the	O
United	O
States	O
of	O
America	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Originally	O
ATHEMOO	B-Protocol
was	O
designed	O
so	O
that	O
all	O
of	O
the	O
online	O
open	O
areas	O
looked	O
like	O
a	O
Hotel	O
Lobby	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
the	O
time	O
of	O
ATHEMOO'''s	O
establishment	O
there	O
were	O
over	O
2200	O
members	O
of	O
ATHE	O
,	O
half	O
of	O
which	O
were	O
earning	O
under	O
$	O
20,000	O
a	O
year	O
;	O
it	O
was	O
therefore	O
decided	O
at	O
the	O
ATHE	O
conference	O
in	O
1993	O
that	O
ATHEMOO	B-Protocol
would	O
be	O
created	O
to	O
help	O
all	O
members	O
discuss	O
and	O
learn	O
from	O
the	O
ATHE	O
conferences.Schrum	O
,	O
Stephen	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
ATHEMOO	B-Protocol
was	O
originally	O
conceived	O
as	O
a	O
discussion	O
space	O
,	O
the	O
creator	O
realised	O
its	O
potential	O
as	O
a	O
performative	O
arena	O
for	O
the	O
use	O
and	O
proliferation	O
of	O
online	O
interactive	O
performance.Schrum	O
,	O
Stephen	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Once	O
the	O
performance	O
has	O
started	O
the	O
actors	O
playing	O
a	O
role	O
within	O
the	O
performance	O
space	O
in	O
ATHEMOO	B-Protocol
exist	O
both	O
within	O
the	O
virtual	O
and	O
physical	O
world	O
,	O
thus	O
creating	O
two	O
simultaneous	O
performances	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
some	O
cases	O
,	O
actors	O
would	O
meet	O
in	O
the	O
physical	O
world	O
to	O
rehearse	O
work	O
they	O
would	O
be	O
performing	O
in	O
ATHEMOO.Cremona	O
,	O
Vicki	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
its	O
first	O
year	O
,	O
ATHEMOO	B-Protocol
hosted	O
numerous	O
performance	O
events	O
,	O
in	O
March	O
1996	O
,	O
Charles	O
Deemer	O
reproduced	O
his	O
hyper	O
drama	O
,	O
"	O
Bride	O
of	O
Edgefield	O
,	O
"	O
a	O
play	O
made	O
entirely	O
out	O
of	O
hypertext	O
in	O
the	O
ATHEMOO	B-Protocol
space	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
second	O
performer	O
to	O
use	O
ATHEMOO	B-Protocol
as	O
a	O
performance	O
space	O
in	O
March	O
1996	O
was	O
Cat	O
Hebert	O
who	O
produced	O
a	O
piece	O
in	O
conjunction	O
with	O
Crosswaves	O
Festival	O
in	O
Philadelphia.Haynes	O
,	O
Cynthia	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
"	O
High	O
Wired	O
:	O
On	O
the	O
Design	O
,	O
Use	O
,	O
and	O
Theory	O
of	O
Educational	O
MOOs	B-Application
"	O
,	O
Pg	O
264	O
University	O
of	O
Michigan	O
,	O
Michigan	O
,	O
1998	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
performance	O
proved	O
to	O
be	O
controversial	O
with	O
a	O
moderator	O
from	O
ATHEMOO	B-Protocol
,	O
who	O
was	O
concerned	O
that	O
the	O
exchange	O
of	O
sexual	O
dialogue	O
may	O
cause	O
offence	O
to	O
any	O
audience	O
members.Cymposium	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
During	O
this	O
performance	O
audience	O
members	O
were	O
able	O
to	O
take	O
part	O
whenever	O
they	O
wanted	O
to	O
,	O
either	O
by	O
registering	O
to	O
be	O
an	O
ATHEMOO	B-Protocol
character	O
,	O
or	O
by	O
emailing	O
a	O
member	O
of	O
the	O
cast	O
and	O
requesting	O
to	O
temporarily	O
perform	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
roles	O
still	O
in	O
existence	O
in	O
the	O
performance	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Its	O
purpose	O
was	O
to	O
discover	O
how	O
a	O
MOO	B-Application
environment	O
would	O
develop	O
around	O
improvisational	O
performance	O
,	O
and	O
what	O
improvisation	O
would	O
look	O
like	O
if	O
it	O
were	O
viewed	O
online	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Like	O
many	O
MOO	B-Application
's	O
in	O
the	O
1990s	O
ATHEMOO	B-Protocol
was	O
regularly	O
affected	O
by	O
connection	O
dropout	O
,	O
slow	O
connection	O
and	O
lag	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
regular	O
disruption	O
became	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
charm	O
of	O
ATHEMOO	B-Protocol
and	O
highlighted	O
the	O
risk	O
inherent	O
in	O
any	O
live	O
performance	O
event	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
3D	O
virtual	O
avatar	O
based	O
worlds	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
Second	B-Application
Life	I-Application
,	O
became	O
more	O
popular	O
ATHEMOO''	O
lost	O
its	O
appeal	O
,	O
the	O
audience	O
numbers	O
declined	O
leading	O
to	O
its	O
closure	O
.	O
</s>
