Theatre: Performance and Art — Study Notes
Theatre as Performance
Definition: An activity in which some people do something while other people watch; a performance exists on a continuum from humdrum and everyday to formal and special. Many kinds of performance exist beyond theatre (e.g., lectures, games, parades, rituals).
Examples of life performances: informal roles (student, parent, athlete, consumer) with actions/appearances shifted for different audiences; formal life performances include religious services, weddings, auctions, circuses, fairs, and sports events with rules, time constraints, and structured sequences.
Performing arts: theatre, opera, and dance involve specially trained people performing in front of audiences.
Key traits shared by performances:
Doers (performers/actors)
Something done (a speech, ritual, or play)
Watchers (spectators/audience)
Performance sites (stadium, church, theatre, street)
Movement through time (beginnings and endings)
IMMEDIATE AND EPHEMERAL
Live performance happens in real time, creating immediacy and a strong sense of the present (the “now”).
Ephemeral: live performances are fleeting and not recoverable exactly; audiences influence each performance, so each one is unique.
Recorded media (radio, film, television, video) can be recovered exactly and repeated; live performances do not leave an exact record and cannot be replayed identically.
Theatre as a form of performance: one among many kinds of performance, lying on a continuum with other forms (informal to highly structured). This explains why theatre can be studied both as performance and as art.
Why Theatre?
Reasons audiences attend: immediacy, relevance, engagement, social aspect, sensuous appeal (actors’ talent, scenery, costumes, lighting, language, music), imaginative engagement with stories and characters, intellectual engagement with relevant issues, and the sense that it happens now.
Theatre as both performance and art: contemporary theory often treats theatre as performance; earlier theories treated it as art. Both views are valid and useful; switching between them yields a fuller understanding.
Theatre’s appeal rests on multiple dimensions: social, sensuous, imaginative, and intellectual.
THEATRE AS PERFORMANCE
Core definition: An activity in which some people do something while others watch; performances vary in form from everyday acts to formal spectacles.
A continuum of performance examples: religious services, weddings, auctions, games, circuses, fairs, theatre, opera, and dance.
Traits shared by performances (reiterated): doers, something done, watchers, sites, movement through time.
Specific contrasts:
Everyday performance: informal roles and shifting behavior depending on context and audience.
Formal performances: structured, ritualized events with agreed-upon sequences and rules.
The audience’s role: spectators become part of the performance through their watchful presence and reactions.
Traits Causing Differences among Performances
Four major dimensions that differentiate performances:
Purposes (why they are done): e.g., church services (worship), games (winning), auctions (exchange), etc.
Relationships between doers and watchers: level of interaction varies (parade vs spectators at a game vs viewers at a broadcast).
Organizing principles: how performances begin/end and what binds them together (items to buy, schedule, or ritual/doctrine).
Self-awareness (degree to which participants know they are in a performance): e.g., boxing (self-aware) vs street fights (not self-aware).
Example patterns to illustrate differences:
Auctions begin with an item and end when sold; church services follow a schedule linked to doctrine; parades involve direct spectator interaction; radio/film/TV performances lack a shared site or time with performers and spectators.
An extended example: ritual
Rituals share elements like masks, costumes, dance, music, and sometimes improvised or orally transmitted texts.
Purposes include healing, honoring, mourning, etc.
Community bonding is a key outcome; attendees often participate directly with performers, blurring lines between performers and audience.
Rituals can lack a dedicated space and may extend over time.
Summary: No single trait is better; performances differ in combinations of these traits, leading to a spectrum of performance types.
THEATRE AS ART
Theatre is also a kind of art, alongside poetry, novels, painting, sculpture, architecture, music, and dance.
Traits shared by arts:
Artificiality: art is made, not merely natural; even when art imitates nature, it is crafted by an artist.
Stands alone: art may have no practical use in real life (e.g., some musical works).
Self-awareness: artists know their aims and possess discipline and preparation to accomplish them.
Produces an aesthetic response: value and beauty beyond pure utility or entertainment.
Differences among arts (how they differ in form and consumption):
Time vs. space: some arts unfold through time (music, novels); others exist in space (sculpture, architecture).
Principles of organization: stories with characters and dialogue vs patterned sounds (music) or colors (painting).
Idea of audience: some arts are solitary (novels, paintings) while others assume group enjoyment (opera, dance, theatre).
Mode of presentation: transmission via printed page (novels), mechanical images (film), or live performance (opera, theatre, dance).
Theatre’s relationship with other arts:
Scenery and costumes rely on painting and sculpture techniques.
Plays frequently incorporate songs and dances (musicals), leading to crossovers with theatre music and theatre dance.
Works like Romeo and Juliet have been realized as plays, ballets, operas, films, and Broadway musicals, with each medium highlighting different elements (music, movement, or dialogue).
Opera emphasizes music; dance emphasizes movement; theatre emphasizes words; all invite the eye.
Theatre as performing art (summary):
The major characteristics of theatre as performing art include its use of actors, presence, and a live, immediate relationship to an audience. It shares artificiality and an aesthetic aim with other arts, but differs in its time/space relationship, organizational principles, audience expectations, and live presentation.
THEATRE AS PERFORMING ART: THE ROLE OF THE ACTOR
The actor is a special kind of performer who impersonates a character different from themselves.
Distinguishing features:
Impersonation: the actor uses the pronoun I to mean someone other than themselves.
Presence: the actor must be physically present with the audience in the live space.
How theatre actors differ from other performers:
Street fighters perform but do not intend to impersonate or pretend to be someone else.
Jugglers or music video stars may not use I to mean another person.
Film/TV actors are not presented as the actual person on stage; the image of the actor is what the audience sees, not the living, present actor.
Why presence matters: theatre is both immediate and ephemeral because actors and audiences share space and time, making each performance unique and unrepeatable.
The theatre relies on action (stories and characters) to organize and bind the event; characters are crafted worlds within the play, intended to resemble real people but not identical to them.
The theatre’s “virtual world” is more intense and concentrated than ordinary life, because every on-stage element (props, lighting, sound) is chosen for its artistic purpose and meaning.
On stage, ordinary actions (cooking, washing clothes) can reveal insight when performed in theatre, converting the ordinary into meaningful activity.
The theatre’s space is real but artificial: a defined performance space with stage architecture and built surroundings; film can show vast places and close-ups that theatre cannot replicate. Close-ups in theatre are achieved through staging, lighting, and sound rather than camera work.
Theatre’s paradox of spectacle: audiences love spectacular, obviously “trick” moments because they appreciate the craft required to create illusion; theatre’s constraints can heighten audience enjoyment of difficult scenes.
The theatre proceeds at its own pace through time: performances cannot be replayed or fast-forwarded; audience controls differ from media control (DVDs, books).
The theatre is lifelike but not life: it is not a thing but a process—an interdependent system of actor, action, audience, time, and space.
The theatre’s reliance on action and presence creates a sense of “virtual worlds” that resemble real life but are constructed for artistic purposes.
Metaphor and life: theatre has long been used as a metaphor for life (e.g., All the world’s a stage). Metaphors compare but do not equate; life and theatre share time/space, but differ in duration, purpose, and risk.
Two-way relationship with life: life can resemble theatre, and theatre can resemble life; but theatre reshapes life by presenting it in concentrated, interpretable form.
LIFE, ART, PERFORMANCE: METAPHORS, TIME, AND SPACE
Theatre’s virtual world is more intense than ordinary life because it is curated and simplified for artistic effect; every element is deliberate and meaningful.
The theatre uses real performance space with artificial settings; film can travel anywhere and present images of places at varying scales, including close-ups.
The theatre cannot easily replicate film’s filmic devices (e.g., dynamic close-ups, rapid editing); it must rely on staging, lighting, and sound to guide attention and heighten impact.
The theatre proceeds at its own pace; cannot be paused or replayed at will; audience’s patience and engagement become integral to the experience.
Life vs theatre: life lasts longer and is more diffuse; theatre is compact, concentrated, and often safer; theatre can expose dangerous or shocking events in a controlled environment.
The theatre is a metaphor that helps us understand life, but it can distort as a mirror; some theatres critique or exaggerate society to provoke thought.
Time and space: both life and theatre move through time and occupy space; actors, audiences, and settings all inhabit these dimensions.
The metaphor that life is like a stage has two directions: life resembles theatre, and theatre reflects life; both emphasize changing identities and roles over time.
THEATRE’S RELATIONSHIP WITH OTHER ARTS
The relationship is complex: theatre sometimes contains other arts, merges with them, or transforms them for its purposes.
Scenic design uses painting and sculpture; musical theatre merges theatre with opera and dance.
Works can rest at the center of several arts (e.g., Romeo and Juliet as play, ballet, opera, film, or Broadway musical); each realization emphasizes different elements (music, movement, or language) to communicate the story.
Theatrical choices shape audience attention: opera emphasizes music, dance emphasizes movement, theatre emphasizes spoken language and acting; all invite the eye.
The theatre’s central claim: it is a form of performing art that shares traits with other arts but retains its own distinctive movement through time, immediacy, and ephemeral nature.
THEATRE AS PERFORMING ART: SUMMARY OF CHARACTERISTICS
The theatre uses a distinct performer—the actor: a person who embodies a character on stage in front of a live audience.
The actor must imitate another character while physically present; this dual requirement differentiates theatre from other performance forms and from acting in film/TV.
Theatre is both immediate and ephemeral because the live interaction between actors and audience cannot be exactly repeated.
Theatrical action organizes meaning through stories and characters; the stage environment acts as a controlled, purposeful world distinct from everyday life.
Theatre’s realism is selective and heightened: audiences accept the artificiality of staging while engaging with genuine emotional truth.
The world on stage is artificial yet lifelike in its emotional resonance; it offers intensified opportunities to understand human experience.
AUDIENCE AS PERFORMING UNIT: THE ROLE OF THE AUDIENCE
Theatre is not only performance and art; it is also a social expression shaped by its culture and by its economic life.
The audience is central to commercial and not-for-profit theatre; audiences pay bills and influence programming, size, and space.
Social audiences: audiences are groups whose responses help define the performance’s success; a sense of group identity enhances the theatre’s impact.
Size and arrangement: audience size interacts with space to promote group feeling; there is a balance between intimacy and capacity; optimal size depends on space and performance.
Permission: an implicit social contract allows audiences to respond (laugh, cry, applaud) without threat; this creates a safe space for emotional engagement.
Self-image: audiences develop a social self-image (e.g., dress codes) that shapes behavior and expectations; productions may prompt specific dress or behavior to enhance the experience.
Interactive audiences: audiences respond to performers and to one another; reactions are not entirely predictable but tend to align across many viewers during a successful performance.
Typical audience responses: applause, laughter, silence, tears, curtain calls, standing ovations, or encores; disapproval can take the form of withholding applause, noise, or departure.
Protests and disapproval: booing or leaving; some audiences may resist a production due to content or style; responses may reflect alienation or misunderstanding.
Culture and audience: theatre reflects and participates in culture; audiences serve as a mirror of life, but mirrors can distort; theatre’s representation of culture may be central or peripheral depending on historical and social context.
The audience as culture-index: theatre choices reveal societal values and interests; differences in accessibility, education, race, gender, and class influence what kinds of theatre are produced and consumed.
Mirror of culture: theatre can reveal cultural patterns and shifts; however, it must be interpreted cautiously because audience demographics and access patterns change over time.
The relationship between audience and culture is dynamic: affordability, access, gender, and race influence who attends and what is produced; audience self-selection also shapes the theatre’s offerings.
THEATRE AS BUSINESS: THE ROLE OF THE AUDIENCE
The audience pays the bills in commercial theatre; business considerations have long influenced artistic choices.
Historical shift: from communal/subsidized performances to pay-as-you-go commercial models during the Renaissance; audience revenue became the primary funding source.
Debate about commercialism vs artistic expression: some argue business pressures can undermine art, others argue business is necessary to support the artists’ livelihoods.
Not-for-profit vs for-profit theatres:
Not-for-profit theatres: ongoing organizations with a season of plays; donations and grants fund much of their income; 40–60% of income from ticket sales is typical; donations and endowments supplement ticket revenue.
For-profit (commercial) theatres: driven by private investments and profits; investors expect returns; ticket sales and advertising/PR are central; producers arrange funding, production, and personnel; the production company often owns the show and venue or controls its use.
Funding patterns and organizations:
Educational theatres: subsidized; university budgets cover salaries; productions serve students; typically more adventurous repertoire.
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA): established in 1965 to support arts nationwide; grants through state arts councils; not-for-profit status often required to receive funding.
Government subsidies in some countries (Germany, France, England) support theatres as part of public services; in the US, government funding is more limited and the NEA is a focal point of policy debates.
NEA controversies: funding cuts proposed in 1990 and 1995; debates over taxpayer funding of art that some find offensive.
Corporate and private funding: corporations sponsor productions, donations, and underwriting; businesses also support arts for social value and branding; event-related consumer spending (hotels, restaurants, parking, souvenirs) impacts local economies.
The rise of corporate management and investment: increasingly, professional theatres are run by business executives rather than artist-shareholders; production costs have skyrocketed, leading to greater reliance on film/video rights and other revenues.
Structural shifts in the American theatre:
Early “sharing companies” (small groups pooling resources) evolved into for-profit partnerships; Shakespeare’s company exemplifies shareholder models.
In Europe, government subsidies sustained theatres as public services; in the US, Broadway and larger theatres rely more on private investment.
The emergence of not-for-profit organizations as major producers, contributing many award-winning works and reviving classic plays.
Notable examples illustrating business/arts interplay:
Perseverance Theatre (Juneau, Alaska): a not-for-profit company with a mission to reflect Alaska’s cultures; premiered numerous new plays; budget around 1{,}000{,}000; touring to Anchorage; demonstrates nonprofit theatre’s role in regional culture.
Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark: a high-budget Broadway production with costs exceeding 75{,}000{,}000; extensive previews, multiple revamps, then open with mixed reviews; demonstrates how spectacle and big budgets shape reception and business outcomes.
The Book of Mormon on Broadway: top orchestra seat pricing around 175; premium seats up to 477$$; illustrates pricing strategies and audience segmentation on commercial stages.
Balancing business and art: tensions between audience size for profitability and the ideal intimate social experience; compromises are often necessary to sustain both artistic integrity and financial viability.
Market dynamics and broader impact: large-scale productions attract audiences, influence local economies, and shape a city’s cultural landscape; successful productions can attract corporate sponsorship and philanthropy, further feeding the cycle of investment and art.
CHANGING PATTERNS IN BUSINESS AND THEATRE
Historical patterns vs modern patterns:
Early theatre relied on community subsidies and volunteer work; later shifted to shareholder and for-profit models.
Firms like Disney and other large corporations now invest in theatre, increasing scale and risk but potentially broadening the audience.
Not-for-profit theatres have become the dominant form in the U.S. professional theatre since mid-20th century, often producing a mix of new plays, revivals, and musicals.
Not-for-profit vs commercial: important differences include: ongoing seasonal planning vs open-ended runs; base income from donations vs reliance on ticket sales; tax status affecting financial structure; long-term mission vs short-term profitability.
NEA and public funding debates continue to shape policy and the performing arts landscape in the United States.
Role of education: educational theatres subsidized by universities enable riskier or more experimental programming; student labor and learning outcomes are central to their mission.
The economy and theatre: ticket pricing, audience access, and donor culture all influence what kinds of theatre are produced and how audiences participate; business practices and artistic decisions are increasingly intertwined.
ADDITIONAL EXAMPLES AND NOTES
Frost/Nixon case study (Life/Art/Performance):
The interviews were real events (1977) that became a play (Frost/Nixon, 2006) and then a film (2008).
The chain raises questions about what counts as reality vs. art: the hours of raw interview material were condensed and dramatized; the resulting work is interpreted through stage and screen, thereby becoming art.
Critics debated which form represented reality most accurately; the question of whether Frost and Nixon were “performers” in their own lives at different stages mirrors central theatre questions about life vs. art vs. performance.
Visual exemplars:
The Actor as Performer: Bat Boy production showing an actor in makeup becoming a character; live performance emphasizes the actor’s physical presence and transformation.
“Spotlight” and “Choices” images illustrate theatre’s heightened realism, the role of staging in directing audience attention, and the interplay of lighting, makeup, and design.
Thematic quotes and metaphors:
All the world’s a stage; life as theatre; cautions about the metaphor’s limitations and distortions; the metaphor highlights life’s changing roles and identities over time.
KEY TERMS
aesthetic response - an appreciation of beauty and some understanding that goes beyond the merely intellectual or the merely entertaining
art - art can include: poetry, novel, painting, sculpture, architecture, music, dance, and theatre. All art is artificial stands alone, is selfaware, and produces a certain kind of response.
audience - people that come together on special occasions to watch trained people do things for their enjoyment
characters - artistic creations intended to resemble people
criticism- writing or talking about a play or performance to explain what worked, what didn’t, and why it matters
ephemeral art- fleeting, nonrecoverable
impersonation- the act of pretending to be another person for the purpose of entertainment
performance- an activity in which some people do something while other people watch
performing arts- a wide range of live artistic performances presented to an audience
presence- the state or fact of existing, occurring, or being present in a place or a thing.
ritual- a repeated, structured action with a special meaning
theory- a set of ideas people use to understand how theatre works and what it means
culture- set of beliefs, values, and social behavior that a group shares
not-for-profit- a theatre company thats set up mainly to create and share art, not to make money for owners and investors
for-profit- a theatre company that’s mainly focused on making money from its shows.
educational theatres- theatres connected to schools, colleges, or universities where the main goal is learning