Audience The in Performance
Literary Performance
Speakers audience
the person(s) [listener(s)] to whom the
speaker of the text is speaking
Performers audience
those who are watching the performance
The relationship between the speaker
Open situation
the speaker of the text addresses the
audience directly
i.e., breaking the fourth wall
Closed situation
the speaker of the text addresses a listener
or listeners within the world of the text; the
audience simply overhears (or views the
performance as with a dramatic play)
A performance may alternate between an
open and closed situation
Aesthetic Distance
In literary performance, aesthetic distance
is important. The audience must believe
that Snow Whites apple is poisoned, yet
aesthetic distance lets the audience know
that this is a performance. The aesthetic
distance prevents the audience members
from rushing the stage to grab the apple
from Snow Whites hand.
Spectators v. Spect-actors
Spectators are passive audience
members who simply view the
performance (as with a play)
Spect-actors are active audience
members who, in some way, participate in
the performace (as with cultural
performance or plays such as Tony &
Tinas Wedding)
Integral v. Accidental Audience
Integral Audience
one where people come because they
have to or because the event is of special
significance to them (e.g., weddings,
funerals, graduations, baby showers,
department pot-lucks)
the integral audience is necessary to
accomplish the performance ritual)
Accidental (or Audience
a group of people who, individually or in
small clusters (e.g., a group of friends), go to
performances that are publically advertised
and open to all (e.g., a play, movie, festival)
an accidental audience comes to see the
show
they attend voluntarily they choose to
attend and have often paid to attend
each individual or small group is a stranger
Mixed Audience
some audiences can be a mixture of
accidental and integral audiences
Festival and Ritual
Festivals and rituals are subsets of cultural
performance
Some areas of cultural performance
include:
a. festivals
b. rituals
c. public entertainments (rock concerts,
football games)
d. exhibitions (state fairs, amusement parks)
Both festival and ritual are a combination
of participation and performance spectactors.
Ritual
e.g., weddings, funerals, communions, bar
mitzvahs
includes both words and acts
a partial fusion of performer and audience
(spect-actors)
if there is no performance, there is no ritual
often associated with an official religion or
religious practice (although does not have to
be religious in nature)
Festival
e.g., Mardi Gras, Strawberry festival,
Woodstock
considered to be more pagan, secular, or
recreational (although may have religious
roots the separation of ritual & festival
evolved as a consequence of modern
religious systems attempts to obliterate
native religions these ritualist practices
continued, however, under a new name
the festival thus disguising their origins)