Providing a Model of Theatre Survival Mechanism in the Age of Modern Media Concerned with a Grounded Theory Approach

The new media has had a profound and dramatic effect on the isolation of the country’s theater, so that the life of this field of art needs a new model based on a fundamental revision of current approaches. The present study aims to design a model for the survival of theater in the age of modern media based on grounded theory approach. This research is an applied-developmental in terms of purpose and a descriptive research in terms of data collection which has been done by cross-sectional survey method. The statistical population of this research includes theoretical experts (professors in the field of theater and media in Iran) and experimental experts (managers and activists in the field of theater in Iran). Sampling was performed purposefully using non-probability method and finally 17 selected experts participated in this study. The data collection tool is a semi-structured interview. Data based theory (grounded theory) method was used to analyze specialized interviews. Research data were analyzed using MaxQDA software. In the open coding stage, 191 codes were identified, which with the observations made, 6 paradigms, 12 main categories and 41 indicators were achieved. Twelve key categories were identified including new media, third theater, digital world, technology, virtual world, history, governments, artists, modern performance, theater survival, citizenship, and participatory management. Based on the paradigm model of research, new media is the central phenomenon in this study. Technology, the digital world and the virtual world are causal conditions that affect new media. Of course, the role of the government and artists as intervening conditions should not be overlooked. On the other hand, theater is rooted in history, and developments in this field must be trusted by taking historical developments into account. Finally, the results of this study showed that the third theater is a strategy that, according to the point of views of theoretical and experimental experts, can turn the new generation into a theater audience and ultimately guarantee the survival of the theater.