What is conventional theatre?
Conventional theatre involves an audience approaching a theatre with needs of being aesthetically pleased. We go to the theatre and sit in the dark while watching a picture frame of action, many judge theatre based on what has stuck out visually in their memory or what had the biggest impact on them. This may be be how elaborate the set was or how good the actors looked within the space.
It seems the main sense we use to experience theatre is sight:
- Actors actions
- Actors expressions and unheard reactions to speech
- Set design
- Costume
- Take in the atmosphere
- Proximity of actors (relationships)
The five senses work together in order to allow our body to function properly, sight can guide us and protect us from danger. We are able to see something coming, and prevent ourselves from harm.
Something to experiment: An audience without sight may become uneasy and unaware of their surroundings, can we still create a successful performance when we take away the audiences sight?
A performance without sight would need to enhance other senses such as smell, sound, touch and taste. This would need to be an immersive piece of theatre to enable the audience to become involved and engaged without the sense of sight.
Charlotte Meek
Word Count: 220