How is the audiences experience of a play affected by the space in which it is performed?
Space is an important element in drama since the stage itself also represents a space where action is presented. One must of course never forget that different types of stage have changed in the history of the theatre and that this has also influenced the way plays were performed. The analysis of places and the settings in plays can help one get a better feel for characters and their behaviour but also for the overall atmosphere. The play “ The removalist” written by David Williamson explores prevalent Australian attitudes about masculinity, violence and racism through the use of characterisation, language, and performance space and proxemics. “the removalist” is the play that my group had re-enacted; in my group performance for the removalist, our group had staged the scene by creating different spaces throughout our original space that we were given and we also created levels descending on what particular block the character’s would be on like Fiona; she is a very quiet, lower class subtle character who is often over powered by her elder upperclass sister. The difference in the stages levels are shown when Fiona is pushed back onto the bench and sitting there quietly behind her sister whereas the spotlight is on Kate and the other characters. This shows the importance of Fiona’s role throughout the play. The scenes impact from the use of levels makes the audience automatically feel sorry for Fiona as she is always the ignored one and is mostly pushed back by her elder sister, creating a feel of empathy towards Fiona from the audience, this changes their experience. The play Norm and Ahmed the use of language and status throughout Buzo’s play helps convey to the audience the themes of racism and violence in Australian culture. During the scene we explored I played Ahmed the “outsider”. Throughout the play the use of space was used very limitedly as it was a short scene, where there was a bench and just one light showing down on us creating an uncomfortable spotlight for norm as the original scene is set out on a trashy Australian backstreet. The levels of the two characters Norm and Ahmed is shown with norm sitting very low clearly showing the audience that he is uncomfortable and slightly scared whilst Norm is sitting very straight up with his back straight this scene and the use of levels shows how status and power struggle can be employed within Australian and realism to create better actors using proxemics and make better theatre using tension and intimidation in order to further engage the audience to connect the audience to racism and hyper masculinity. We chose to direct a scene from the beginning of “Norm and Ahmed” with a focus on power status and struggle to enhance tension within the scene and highlight ideas about racism and intimidation through the use of hegemonic masculinity and proxemics.
The Dramatic Tension of the removalist has a great impact on the experiences of the audience, the audience is anticipated in what is going to happen in the next scene The structure and plotline of the play ensures that the audience is fully captivated by the black comedy and tension they do not know wether they should look away or keep looking like when I experienced a sexual tension scene between Fiona and her husband and her husband was groping her I felt that tension which changed my feelings and experience and made it it is full of tension. We initially as an audiences point of veiw watch the male games of dominance played between Simmons and Ross. Then we witness the thinly veiled sexual innuendo of the conversation that happens between Kate, Fiona, Ross, and Simmons. We anticipate the abuse of sexual power in, only to see the unexpected arrival home of Kenny. We then await the arrival of the police, whilst fearing Simmons’ frustration at being blocked from a conquest and being witness to Kenny’s emotional/physical violence this sends the audience on an emotional rollercoaster making their experiences differ from each different person in the room. The violent and hypocritical ‘cat and mouse’ hunting game is played with Kenny, and we are forced to process his beating, submission, and eventually his death. The play finishes with a tense match between the two police officers as they try to shift the blame-but frustratingly the outcome is undecided as the lights go down. The situation is tense, and the issues are high at stakes. The realistic use of style used in the play and the presence of the fourth wall is essential to the impact of the play on the audience , and it is important that the audiences are forced to be quiet to witness to the corruption, fraudulence, violence and abuse perpetrated by the characters in the play. The audience is then forced to adopt the position of being a basic observer to witness the visions of the playwrights use of space. This helps the audience form their own opinion and reflect on the issues raised by the text on their own judgements and expereiences. The more intimate the stage and the venue is, the higher the impactisation of the confrontment, bullying and violence there is. There is no escaping it, the audience themselves must process the information themselves and also must not be removed from the confrontation of to reflect their own experiences on the scene itself. The elements of Drama all combine in this space to create this tension towards the audience’s experiences.