Judging Audience's Performance

“Audiences today want a real experience in their live performance, because they can get great script based entertainment at home, through various new media sources. Traditional theatre, which appeals on a mental, and hopefully also emotional level, has not been enough to compete with other media, and audiences have been declining. Physical theatre, by contrast appeals to the audience on a physical and emotional level, providing a much more immediate experience than traditional theatre” ~ (Artmedia Publishing in Zen Zen Zo’s “The Tempest” Teacher’s Notes)

As an ensemble our dramatic intentions are to shock and excite the audience with a mixture of impressive and dynamic physical sequences. We also intend to move the audience and make them reconsider their life. We intend to do this by writing deep and meaningful words at emotional moments of the play but also by doing slower, more heartfelt sequences to draw the audience.

I watched this production on Thursday, March 9th, at 7:30 p.m. In this paper, I will address three topics of interest to me after seeing this play. My personal reaction to how seeing this play was different from watching movies, television, or videos, the major strengths and how this play is responding to life today.

In the words of Gay McAuley, “for an activity to be regarded as a performance, it must involve the live presence of the performers and those witnessing it…” (McAuley, 2009, cited in Schechner, 2013, pp.38). This statement recognises the importance of both the actor and the audience for something to truly function as a performance. In addition, Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones highlights the significance of the theatrical space and how it can influence an audience stating that “on entering a theatre of any kind, a spectator walks into a specific space, one that is designed to produce a certain reaction or series of responses” (Llewellyn-Jones, 2002, pp.3). The relationship between actor, audience and theatrical space is no less important today than it was at the time of theatre during the Spanish Golden Age and the creation of Commedia dell’arte in Italy. Despite being very close geographically with theatre thriving for both in the same era, sources that explore the social, cultural and historical context of these countries and the theatre styles will bring to light the similarities and differences. This essay will analyse the staging, the behaviour of the audience as well as the challenges the actors faced, and how this directly influenced the relationship between actor, audience and theatrical space.

Plays take you to a new world and make you ask about life. They establish additional questions. These enduring questions are never-ending, but the amazingly make us think of our world in a newfangled, exciting, and intimidating way. Plays tell stories of the people of the past or people from the writer minds probably based off someone. Does social prejudice and expectations, cover up genius and innovation, but that shows how great these individualities and other people of advancement are that the genius shows through the prejudices and discrimination of the time.

The audience enters the theater without knowing what to expect. They see the set design on the stage and ponder what the show will be about and how will it be used. After the audience begins to be seated, the lights begin to dim. The director comes out and welcomes the audience to the play. Afterwards, the lights begin to dim again and the play begins as the actors come out onto the stage. However, what denotes a good play? Different aspects affect the theater, such as costumes, acting, lights, and set design. All of these aspects must come together to create the play and enhance the experience the audience has while watching it. Costuming is essential to the theater because it allows the audience to distinguish between each individual character. Likewise, they are able to distinguish between the relationships characters have with one another. Additionally, costuming reveals information about the play, for instance what time period it is set in. Another aspect which affects the theater is the set. Primarily, it relays information about the setting of the play. In addition, the actors can use the set to make it 3-dimensional and make the set come alive. Acting is essential in theater. Actors relay the messages and the story the playwright creates for the play. In Theatre, Robert Cohen argues that acting is a composite of an actor’s ability to mix two concepts in which an actor must,

For as long as there has been someone valiant enough to grace the stage, there have been people willing to stop and watch. Though this stage has evolved over the centuries and become a metaphor, alluding to new media such as television and the radio, there is no form of entertainment more direct and authentic than that of the original platform. Thus being where the experience is live and therefore more direct. Although this can quite clearly be said for theatre, this essay will look to argue that of all the live experiences there is no experience more natural than that of the stand-up comedian, which is why clear when you examine the relationship between the performer and their audience.

In an interview with Belvoir Street Theatre in 2012 he quotes; “I found a deep sense of place (at once concrete and metaphoric), and silence as an invisible substance – the structuring principle which underpins all utterances”. Andrews feels these artists teach lessons about life and help him explore the depths of theatre as an art form. He is only interested in working on ‘great plays with great actors’ as he states in the same interview. Barry Kosky is a very influential director who is interested in adapting to the way he views a play, in 2000 at the National Circus Conference at the Powerhouse, he stated “I'm not interested in the likes and dislikes of the audience. I'm interested in my likes and dislikes…I need an audience, but I need an audience that want to come on my ride, not the other way around. I think a lot of people in this country are led by the notion that the audience is somehow indicative of the work that should be done.” For Kosky especially, the directorial strategies are very present and can sometimes change the story from the way the writers intended. He is very present within his works but that is his choice, it is not a mistake, instead of using the actors as characters he tends to use them as props, and instead of using the writers to produce scripts, he uses the scripts as more

The above example illustrates not only how the theatrical performance affects the audience, but also how the audience influences its dynamics, development and the characters within it. The actors feel a certain level of acceptance from the viewer, who demands a certain way of depicting the character. Theatre is not just entertainment, itís something much more than that ñ itís education. Theatre should always represent things, rather than

This experience allowed the actors to reach the audience with deeper more powerful emotions. They executed the play with simplicity

You make some very good points in your post. Like you, I also enjoy whenever I get to see the actions of the play happen live before my eyes. I am very fond of the spectacle and magic of theatre productions. It is also incredibly exciting whenever actors break the fourth wall by interacting with audience members, as you say above. As Cohen states, live action, music in the environment, and appeals to humor or deep emotions all enhance the overall entertainment value of a production (Cohen 321).

The work of a team and active participation craft the stage performance. Beyond the actors onstage, designing the set, costumes, lights and sound all cause a massive influence on the audience’s experience. Viewer’s unique opinions can alter and influence actor’s moods, characterizations and in certain venues, their reactions can affect the story. Improvisation or interactive theatre rely on people from the audience, sometimes for their creative input or for them to join actors onstage. However, in traditional theatre, performances can change in small or large ways dependent on audience reactions; humor can be tweaked or minor costume changes if certain aspects “just aren’t working.”

So as you can see, the difference between a story and a play aren’t that big at all, and hardly affect the performance. But the similarities between both are greater. It shows that no matter the differences, it doesn’t matter if you are reading a book or watching a live performance. As long as you remember what Edgar Allen Poe was trying to explain through his works of

Theatre can be described as an art form to show expression of opinion, empathize a phenomenon, or tell a story through dialogue, song and body language. With multiple aspects contributing to this art, theatre is truly multidimensional. Throughout the semester, I have watched productions to analyze and evaluate aspects in the productions. Within helpful resources and my own techniques, I achieved the course objectives in a successful way. Because of this course, I have truly learned a multitude of aspects that can further enhance my education.

Within this final log I shall explain the two contrasting styles of theatre that were covered within the lesson i.e. naturalism and physical theatre, include examples of exercises that were covered in the lessons with examples of my notes and follow up with a conclusion and evaluation.