9.1 Spectatorship and the role of the audience

Spectatorship and audience roles are crucial in performance. Audiences aren't just passive observers—they actively engage, interpret, and shape the performance experience. Their reactions and participation can significantly influence the energy and outcome of a live event.

The relationship between performers and spectators is dynamic and reciprocal. It involves trust, vulnerability, and a shared experience of presence. This connection can blur boundaries, challenge traditional notions of authorship, and create unique, ephemeral moments in performance.

Audience Roles and Functions

Active Engagement and Interpretation

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• The audience serves as a crucial component in the performance process, actively engaging with and interpreting the performance
• Audiences bring their own experiences, knowledge, and cultural backgrounds to bear on their understanding and appreciation of a performance
• The collective experience of the audience, including shared emotions, reactions, and interpretations, contributes to the creation of a unique and ephemeral performance event (standing ovation, laughter, tears)

Varying Roles and Contexts

• Audiences can function as observers, witnesses, participants, or co-creators, depending on the nature and context of the performance
  • Observers: passively watching a traditional proscenium stage play
  • Witnesses: bearing testimony to a site-specific or immersive performance
  • Participants: engaging in interactive or participatory elements of a performance (audience members invited on stage, asked to contribute ideas)
  • Co-creators: actively shaping the content or direction of a performance through improvisation or devised theatre
• The presence and reactions of the audience significantly influence the energy, dynamics, and overall experience of the performance for both the performers and the spectators themselves

Feedback and Interaction

• Audiences provide immediate feedback through applause, laughter, silence, or other verbal and non-verbal responses, which can shape the performance in real-time
  • Laughter during a comedy show can encourage performers to extend or elaborate on a particular joke or bit
  • Silence or restlessness during a dramatic performance may prompt actors to adjust their pacing or intensity
• Audience feedback can also inform future iterations or adaptations of a performance piece (revising a script based on audience reception, adjusting choreography based on crowd reactions)

Performers vs Spectators

Dynamic and Reciprocal Relationship

• The performer-spectator relationship is a dynamic and reciprocal one, characterized by a constant exchange of energy, attention, and communication
• Performers often engage in "breaking the fourth wall," directly addressing or acknowledging the audience, blurring the boundaries between the performance space and the spectator space (monologues directed at the audience, actors entering the audience seating area)
• Trust and vulnerability play a significant role in the performer-spectator relationship, as both parties must be open to the unpredictable and spontaneous nature of live performance

Presence and Shared Experience

• The concept of "presence" is central to the performer-spectator relationship, as the live, embodied nature of performance creates a sense of immediacy and shared experience
  • The physical co-presence of performers and spectators in the same space and time contributes to the unique energy and atmosphere of live performance
  • The shared experience of a performance event can foster a sense of community and connection among audience members (bonding over a particularly moving or impactful moment in a play)
• The performer-spectator relationship can be influenced by factors such as the physical space, cultural context, and social conventions surrounding the performance event (proscenium stage vs. black box theatre, cultural norms around audience behavior)

The Active Audience

Challenging Traditional Notions

• The 'active audience' theory posits that spectators are not passive recipients of meaning but actively engage in the interpretation and construction of meaning during a performance
• The concept of the 'active audience' challenges traditional notions of authorial intent and the idea that there is a single, fixed meaning to a performance
  • Different audience members may derive different meanings or interpretations based on their individual perspectives and experiences
  • The same performance can evoke varied reactions and understandings from different audiences or even the same audience at different times

Implications for Performance Creation and Reception

• The 'active audience' theory has implications for the creation and reception of performance, as artists may seek to create more open-ended or participatory works that invite audience engagement and interpretation
  • Devised theatre pieces that incorporate audience suggestions or contributions
  • Immersive performances that allow audiences to explore and interact with the performance environment
• The 'active audience' concept also highlights the importance of considering the diversity of audience perspectives and experiences when analyzing and evaluating performance
  • Recognizing that a performance may resonate differently with different audience demographics or communities
  • Acknowledging the validity of multiple interpretations rather than seeking a single, authoritative meaning

Theories of Spectatorship

Semiotics and Meaning-Making

• Semiotics, or the study of signs and symbols, has been applied to performance to understand how audiences derive meaning from various elements of a performance, such as costumes, sets, and gestures
  • Analyzing how the color scheme or design of a set communicates a particular mood or theme
  • Examining how an actor's physical movements or vocal inflections convey character or emotion
• Reader-response theory, which originated in literary studies, emphasizes the role of the reader (or spectator) in creating meaning and highlights the multiplicity of possible interpretations
  • Exploring how an individual's personal history or cultural background shapes their understanding of a performance
  • Considering how different audiences may interpret the same performance differently based on their unique perspectives

Psychoanalytic and Identity-Based Approaches

• Psychoanalytic theories of spectatorship, such as those developed by Jacques Lacan, explore the unconscious desires and identifications that shape the spectator's engagement with performance
  • Examining how a spectator's unconscious desires or fears may be projected onto characters or situations in a performance
  • Analyzing how the gaze or perspective of the spectator is constructed and positioned by the performance
• Feminist and queer theories of spectatorship examine how gender, sexuality, and power dynamics influence the ways in which audiences perceive and respond to performance
  • Investigating how traditional gender roles or heteronormative assumptions may be reinforced or subverted by a performance
  • Considering how LGBTQ+ audiences may read or relate to a performance differently based on their own experiences and identities

Cultural and Contextual Factors

• Cultural studies approaches to audience reception consider how social, historical, and political contexts shape the production and consumption of performance, as well as how audiences use performance to negotiate their own identities and social positions
  • Examining how a performance may be interpreted differently in different cultural or national contexts
  • Analyzing how marginalized or underrepresented audiences may use performance as a means of resistance, empowerment, or community-building (the role of theatre in social justice movements, the significance of representation for minority audiences)