MJ Smith

OATS Act Four:

Gabe Carter
25 November 2017

The Theory of the Invisible Pressure

Art isn’t supposed to make sense. It is supposed to be a cathartic experience where
emotions and feelings arise that would otherwise never would. The theatre is one art form that I
never really understood. I just looked at it and saw magic, beauty and spectacle. But art becomes
a whole different issue when the spectacle, the magic is another human. At that point I began to
look at the audience, watch them revel in the show being performed for them with not an inkling
of consideration for the people responsible for it. The relationship between the audience and the
performer is one of that is strange, complex, and at times confusing. Everyone who comes to the
theatre comes for a common purpose, the desire to escape the world that they are living in with
all its lows and pitfalls. Throughout the history of the relationship between audience and
performer it has been a constant back and forth. When struggling to understand the dynamic
between these two parties, and why only one seems able to escape and always at the expense of
the other I decided on guiding questions such as why both performer and audience come to the
theatre? What are their motivations and how have they changed over time? And most
importantly why can’t they coexist? When I began to ask myself these questions it all started to
make sense. I began to see the real workings of the theatre, and the last word I would use to
describe it is magical.

Motives
The beginnings of my research into a majorly
underdiscussed aspect of the theatre; the
complicated relationship between actor and
performer and its relationship with escape
began grounded in analyzing the motivations
behind both parties involved. When crafting
my questions, there was a common pattern of
questions dealing with past trends or
information upon which I could use to make
comparisons to today’s theatre. As I began
my research I focused mainly on the mind of
the audience because I believed that they
played a significant role in understanding this
topic further. All the following sources
presented have the potential to be used to
extend further upon my ideas.
Audience Motivations Brought to light

The first source that I found very interesting to my research was a research study conducted by
Ben Walmsley of Leeds Metropolitan University. Mr. Walmsley is the Associate Professor of
Audience Engagement at the University of Leeds. Besides being a theatre producer and of course
an academic, his research expertise lies in the study of audience engagement and the motivations
behind the theatre going experience. The work that Walmsley presents goes in depth to explore a
side of the audience that I was for so long unable to find. Titled, Why People go to the theatre: A
qualitative study of audience motivation, this journal by Walmsley goes in depth to not only
explain the motivational reasons, which he splits into four categories, but also what they expect
when they get to the theatre. The biggest idea that is presented in this source is the idea that the
motivation for why people go to the theatre can be narrowed down to four distinct categories;
escapism and entertainment, edutainment, personal enrichment and finally social hedonism
(Walmsley pg.336). The audience believes that theatre is a singular experience, and that is one
major factor in the clashing of audience and performer motivations. Walmsley goes in depth
regarding the four main motivations for which audiences’ flock to the theatre, showing how they
contradict with the performers. “Bergadaà and Nyeck extrapolated four motivational typologies
for theatergoing: escapism and entertainment; edutainment; personal enrichment; and social
hedonism” (336). These motivations are critical to understand because looking at them, they are
all about the individual. Not one has to do with showing appreciation, understanding or
compromise with anyone else. This idea that the audience has very personal motives that don’t
align with the performer is also displayed in the book Audience as Performer: The Changing
Role of Theatre Audiences in the Twenty- First Century by Caroline Heim.

Another source that really captures my attention regarding the audience perspective is the book
Audience as Performer: The Changing Role of Theatre Audiences in the Twenty- First Century
by Caroline Heim. This book talks about the idea that while it is common knowledge that what
goes on onstage during a show is the performance, people rarely understand that what the
audience does is a performance as well, “the actors and the audience are performers in this
world” (7). This source is essential to extending this idea of a possible disconnect between
audience and performer, with the blame potentially falling on the audience’s lack of knowledge.
Realities of a life in
the theatre

When we talk about the

motivations of the audience, it
is also helpful to consider the
motivations of the performer
as well. My second source, A
Working life: The Actor,
published on Gaurdian.com
about the real-life struggles of
the performer, is an excellent
account of an actor’s everyday
life, a key component that I must understand to eventually be able to make conclusions on my
hunch. Although this is a website that does have an obvious bias and is not the most credible, the
performer who is the subject of the article is one that is well-known in the theatre world as well
as the life that he led, making this article a very easy one to fact-check for errors, which I
personally found none. This article goes in depth with actor Robert Angell and the specific
struggles that he faces every day in the theatre, even being at the top of the so called “Food
Chain”. The motivations of the audience are not the only forces at play in my hunch. There is so
much hidden from the public concerning the inner workings of the theatre, especially the life of
the actor. They are commercialized, any hint of truth left out. If one looks on social media rarely
are the late hours, endless rehearsals and eight shows a week talked about. That is why I was so
surprised when I found an article on a current working actor that wasn’t all dishonest. In A
working life: The actor by Mark King, the account on Robert Angell’s life is one of many that
are not talked about. In it Angell talks about the many aspects of life that the actor gives up for
the success of their career, such as "If you are with a touring group, you often find you are living
out of a suitcase, bouncing around from one hotel to the next, as a result I've not been able to
lead a normal life and my personal life has suffered hugely.” (Angell). If these stories were
shared with the audience, the audience would in turn change their own views on the theater.
Going even further, it can be said that the clashing of performer and audience lies in the nativity
of the audience, the unwillingness of the bigwigs to publicize such stories, and the actor’s fear to
talk of it themselves. This back and forth between the audience and the performer is as much the
performers fault as theirs. The performer would rather continue to do what they are passionate
about rather than stand up for what they deserve from the theatre, an ability to escape, to truly
play on the stage.

My final source that in a way encapsulates these ideas into one is a one on one interview with my
current director of 1776, Jim Lortz. After a rehearsal we sat down, and I talked to him about his
life in the theatre and what his views were on not only the purpose of the theatre but why people
feel the need to take in the magic that is the theatre. This is a beautiful source to extend upon the
idea that theatre is an integral part of society that has the potential to enhance the lives of
everyone it touches. The sentiments expressed above are ones that I especially noted after talking
with my current director Jim Lortz about his life in the theatre. When I interviewed him, after
hearing all his stories, I couldn’t imagine what reasons he would have for staying. He was
constantly ridiculed during his career in the theatre; and when he was diagnosed with
Parkinson’s, instead of dying away, the ridicule increased. There was this constant pressure
placed on him, and countless other performers by the audience to be inhumanly perfect. This also
connects to the idea that the audience never really sees the full picture. The theatre has become
one large mess of people fighting for the same thing but unable to acknowledge the other. It was
then that it all began to make sense and my theory, The Invisible Pressure, was born.

The Theory of The Invisible

Pressure

My theory is that the audience, due to

their nativity and selfishness, places
upon the performer pressures that are
demanding and rob the performer of the
right to live and escape in the theatre.
The inability for a real connection
between the two always ends with the
performer on the losing side.

There is no doubt that the theatre is comprised of things that are possible to understand and
things that aren’t. The relationship between the audience and the performer is one aspect of the
theatre that is complex, and at times very confusing. Both audience member and performer come
to the theatre for a common purpose, the desire to escape the world that they are living in. But
somehow it is as if they work in opposition. This theory, that the audience unknowingly has
preconceived ideas and motives when coming to the theatre that instantly set the performer up
for ridicule and judgement, leading them to sink further into the dark space inside them and away
from the ability to escape, was the basis for my research.
It is crazy and naive to believe that something so big and mysterious as the art of theatre can ever
truly be completely deciphered. It will always leave someone slightly confused as to just how it
all truly works. What I do know is that that is no excuse to not educate ourselves. Yes, the theatre
is a place to go to be entertained and taken away from the troubles that are everyday life, but it is
also a place to understand and appreciate. If the performer feels trapped and alone, the theatre
will never be as beautiful and magical as it can be.