Actor-Audience Relationship
and Focus
Actor-Audience Relationship
and Focus
ACTOR-AUDIENCE RELATIONSHIP
The actor-audience relationship refers to relationship with the audience that is developed and maintained by the actor/s in a performance.
This relationship begins when the playwright writes the play. They consider the intended audience and the desired effect when it sees the play. When the director and cast work on the rehearsals they will either implicitly or explicitly consider the audience that will come to see it.
Regardless of the theatre style/s of the play, a relationship will be established with the audience. In some theatre styles this is a detached relationship - where the audience watches the play with detachment or without any direct involvement. In other styles of theatre, the actors may address the audience directly or even involve certain members of it in the action in the play. For it to be highly effective in the presentation stage of the production, the actor-audience relationship will need to be thoroughly planned and practiced beforehand. The acting space used in the production will also have an effect on the actor-audience relationship.
When analysing or evaluating the actor-audience relationship it's usual to consider how the audience responded to the relationship that was developed and maintained by the actor/s and whether or not the perceived desired effect was achieved. For example, was a sympathetic actor-audience relationship established, where the audience felt sympathy for the character, or was it a hostile relationship, where the audience felt anger towards the character? Think of the emotional response you have when watching an actor convey a character, and if you can name that emotion, use that word to describe the relationship that was established.
AUDIENCE CULTURE
This refers to the ways in which audience members react to, and interact with, a performance based on their understanding of what the production might require of them as audience (e.g. to be spectators, to interact with the actors/characters, to be immersed in the action of the play as participants) and also how they spontaneously engage with, and react to, the performance as it unfolds.
FOCUS
There are different aspects to consider when discussing focus:
CONCENTRATION
An audience's enjoyment and understanding of a play can be affected by the focus of those responsible for staging it. Often in training, actors will go through concentration exercises to help them to keep focused when performing. An audience can, without consciously realising it, tune in to whether or not an actor is focused on stage. What the actor is attempting to do is to concentrate on their every move, gesture, facial expression and vocal sound to produce the desired effect required of their character/s. The actors should be so focused that they are not distracted away from the task at hand (sometimes referred to as 'breaking character').When an actor isn't focused they may alter the delivery of the lines in a way that doesn't draw out their full dramatic potential. This can also adversely affect mood, tension, timing and even climax of a scene.
FOCUSSING THE AUDIENCE
'Focus' can also refer to the ability of the actors, director and designers to focus the audience's attention on specific moments on stage. Just like the lens of a camera can focus on certain actions, facial expressions, gestures and so on, so too an actor can be directed to draw the focus to a particular aspect of their performance. For example, the:
Actor might use stillness and silence to emphasise a particular stance or physical gesture
Actor may be still except for a subtle change in facial expression
Director, actor/s and designers working together may wish to draw the audience's focus to an action the actor is doing with a prop or item of costume. The lighting or sound may help to draw the audience's attention to what the actor is doing on stage.
There are also structural devices that are built into the narrative of the play that help to focus the audience's attention such as the use of soliloquies, inner monologues and asides.
THE CHARACTER'S FOCUS
This focus is closely related to the character's objectives and motivations, as it refers to the focus of the character (not the actor). What is the characters focus in the scene, and how does the actor make this clear the audience.
**Use the image in the banner to think about the different types of focus being used. How is focus being used by the actors? How is the audience's attention being drawn to specific aspects of the scene? Where is each character's focus?
VERBAL/NON-VERBAL LANGUAGE
Language can be written or spoken, verbal (such as spoken words, vocal sounds) or non-verbal (such as physical gestures, movement, facial expressions and body language). Non-verbal language can also include how design features are used in a performance, particularly those elements that contribute to the intended meaning and realisation of a character. For example, consider how a prop can be used in different ways by a character to convey meaning. The writing on the wall in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is another example of how set design used non-verbal language to convey meaning.
**Use the image in the banner to think about the Non-Verbal Language being used. Considet the use of gesture, facial expressions, body language, use of focus, blocking, and design elements that enhance intended meaning in the moment.
The above clip is a wonderful example of how verbal and non-verbal language can enhance meaning for an audience :)