Audience and Reception

Mo Rangwalla /

As an audience member watching a show of any kind, we are drawn to make some sort of verdict on the performance we have just witness, allowing us to feel independent when engaging in the analysis. The issue here however, is that we are never aware of how accurate the audience’s final reaction is. From personal experience for example, after performing in William Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus, a friend of mine who after seeing the production approached with me with much praise and compliments, despite admitting that she had no idea on what was occurring on stage nor understanding the language commonly used in Shakespearean theatre. This particular example is of course common in other similar situations during the reception process after spectators have watched a performance in the theatre. According to Daniel Meyer-Dinkgräfe, the reception process consists of three interrelated elements:

‘First the spectators, empirical individuals with their psychological and social backgrounds and positions, which influence how they react to the stimuli of the performance. The second element is the performance, which contains potential stimuli, dramatic and performative means of guiding the spectators. The spectator and the performance merge in the reception process which takes place within the spectators and constitutes an interaction of spectators and the performance’ (2005, 127).

However, according to Mathew Reason, there is ‘little empirical research asking whether there is indeed a distinct nature to audiences’ experience of live theatre’ (2004). In the context of theatre, Reason states that the discussions raised regarding the audience’s experience in theatre are primarily theoretical, philosophical or even occasionally anecdotal; ‘the experiential impact of liveness on actual audiences, by its nature something elusive and difficult to access, remains an under-researched area’ (2004).

In Phelan’s Unmarked, she discusses the nature of a live performance, stating that a performance ‘cannot be saved, recorded, documented, or otherwise participate in the circulation of representations of representations: once it does so, it becomes something other than performance’ (1992, 146). What Phelan is explaining here, is that since we do not have the accessories at hand to document a live performance, it is up to us to absorb as much as we can from the performance in order to conduct an analysis with the knowledge that we have of our recent experience. Referring back to Theatre and Consciousness, Dinkgräfe mentions a very interesting fact that is probably undermined whenever we attend a performance. Whilst in attendance for a show, we have the ability to turn off our senses of hearing and seeing at will. However, according to Schechner, our ability to smell functions differently than hearing or seeing, ‘Theatre has developed as an eye-driven medium because of the controllability of focus. Sound and sight can be instantly turned on/off: now you see/hear it, now you don’t. Smell is not only diffuse it lingers’ (128). Why is this considered significant whenever we view a performance? Because the sense of smell can be potentially used to ‘influence the development of consciousness of actors and spectators involved’ (128).

Reflecting back on my research on audience and reception, looking back on a performance as a spectator is very different in comparison to watching a mediatized production. Mediation allows the user to manipulate time by pausing and rewinding key moments of a performance at will, whilst live performances strip you from that ability, allowing you to experience as much as you can from the performance using the senses that you have.

Works Cited:

Dinkgräfe, Daniel, M (2005) Theatre and Consciousness: explanatory scope and future potential. Bristol: Intellect.

Phelan, Peggy (1992) Unmarked: the politics of performance. London: Routeledge.

Reason, Mathew (2004) ‘Theatre Audiences and Perceptions of ‘Liveness’ in Performance’ in Particip@tions, 1 (2) [online] Available from http://www.participations.org/volume%201/issue%202/1_02_reason_article.htm [Accessed 23 January 2015].

Multimedia Performance

Mo Rangwalla /

Multimedia Performance links strongly with the current issues in drama, theatre and performance, considering that the Digital has dominated our society. The Digital’s domination has become a popular a form, because of our dependence on it. We rely on the Digital’s ability to provide us information on certain topic of interests e.g. going on social media to see friends and family’s current activities. However, because of our reliance on digital media, there has been an ongoing debate regarding the Digital’s contribution to performance.

In Multimedia Performance, Klich and Scheer define the Digital as a representation of ‘a varying physical quantity such as sound waves, as discrete signals interpreted through numbers.’ (2012, 179). However, digitisation can consequently transform media ‘from forms of actual inscription of “reality” into variable interfaces for rendering the raw data of reality’ (179). Furthermore, Mark Hansen explains that certain realities contained in digital databases can ‘easily manifest in any number of accessible interface, from a video to an immersive world’ (179). In addition to this, Hansen elaborates further on this manifestation: ‘digital era and the phenomenon of digitisation itself can be understood as demarcating a shift in the correlation of two crucial terms: media and body’ (179).

The video above is a multimedia performance piece entitled Modell 5, created by Granular Synthesis. The piece illustrated the concept of digital hypermediacy, allowing the audience to witness a rather opaque performance. Granular Synthesis succeeded in delivering an insight to the world of digital, by portraying the correlation between media and body. For instance, the performance saw artist Akemi Takeya’s face manipulated as her images are violently distorted, thus exposing the performance’s digital nature.

The video above is another example of a digitised performance piece. However, compared to Modell 5 this particular performance entitled Can You See Me Now? By Blast Theory is a very physical piece, involving members of the public as well as artists from the internationally renowned group. Can You See Me Now? takes place in two locations that have a connection with each other, a physical city and a virtual city. The virtual city is a replica of the physical city, for online players to roam around in. The object of the performance is for the online players to avoid getting caught by the runners in the physical city. If an online player does get caught by a runner however, they are immediately eliminated from the game. Blast Theory’s aim for this game is to emphasise on the concept of absence and presence. The online players are absent in time and place during this chase, until they’re at the point when they are seen by the runners in the physical city by referring to them by the name of the person whom the online player has not seen for a long time. The effect of the runner calling out the name of the player’s associate allows some aesthetic engagement for the player, considering the player has not seen this particular person for a while, thus this person being absent whilst the player’s online avatar is present under the name of said associate.

Our class conducted our own performance involving the notion of absence and presence. As a group, we have decided to take a stroll around Lincoln and take pictures of particular interest, such as locations, objects and scenery. These pictures would then be uploaded on Twitter under the phrase ‘#LincolnNoir’ along with a short story that will allow these pictures to come alive. Whilst we were present during the picture taking and our online audience on Twitter were absent for our adventure, these stories would hopefully allow our audience to feel a sense of awe and presence after viewing our pictures.

Works Cited:

Blast Theory (2010) Can You See Me Now? [online video] Available from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hX4kZvEllwY [Accessed 6 January 2015].

Granular Synthesis (2011) Modell 5 [online video] Available from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATWljMbvVTg [Accessed 6 January 2015].

Klich, R. and Scheer, E. (2012) Multimedia Performance. Basingstoke Palgrave: Macmillian.

Postmodernism

Mo Rangwalla /

Much to my surprise, Postmodernism has played a great part for various artists who engaged with mediated performances. However, postmodern art has always been considered a subject of endless debate, considering the form has always been questioned about its true purpose in art as Paul Fry describes postmodernism as, ‘without doubt one of the most murky concepts to which we’ve been exposed in the past twenty or thirty years.’ (2014).

Postmodernism is of course derived from Modernism. Modernism began as a philosophical movement in the late 19th and 20th century, and was often defined as an industrial evolution. Modernism allowed our society to ideologically be reborn after the First World War (Westerside, 2014). Artistically, Modernism is reckoned to be what Harold Rosenburg calls ‘the tradition of the new,’ because at the time it was ‘experimental, formally complex (…) and tends to associate notions of the artist’s freedom from realism, materialism, traditional genre and form with notions of cultural apocalypse and disaster. (Childs, 2008, 1-2). However, Postmodernism in art is ‘an eclectic return to the possibilities thrown up by a return to the historical forms declared obsolete by modernism.’ (Westerside, 2014). One of the possibilities include using older forms and placing them in a refined context.

The video above is an example of said possibility. Gob Squad’s Kitchen (You’ve Never Had It So Good) encapsulates on the ideologies of 1965, ‘Pop, subculture, superstars, feminism, drugs, bright lights, and sex are about to rock the world like never before.’ (Gob Squad, 2014). Gob Squad’s Kitchen is restaged and live recorded, as well as a reconstruction of a number of films created by Andy Warhol: Kitchen, Eat, Sleep, and Screen Test. This reconstruction of Andy Warhol’s works, is Gob Squad’s re-telling of certain historical contexts in a postmodernist outlook by performing an occurring event based on a previous period.

However, Postmodernism is not only limited to performance art, this form can also be stretched to the likes of architecture. For instance, mock Tudor is exemplified as a postmodern structure, as buildings reimagined by an architect despite the lack of historical context is a common theme within Postmodernism. Music is another example where postmodernism can exist.

This video illustrated composer John Cage’s theory on sounds and music. Cage borrows the concept of composition, and “composed” a silent composition lasting 4 minutes and 33 seconds. During this piece, Cage cleverly allows the audience to sense the sounds within them, such as coughing, breathing and sniffing. So the performance is entirely focused on the audience rather than the composer. This allows the audience to neglect their knowledge of a typical composition comprised of music, and would come to expect their place as the true sound makers of the performance.

Works Cited:

Cage, John (1952) 4’33” [online video] Available from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gN2zcLBr_VM [Accessed 01 December 2014].

Childs, Peter (2008) Modernism. 2nd edition. London: Routledge.

Gob Squad (2014) ‘Gob Squad’s Kitchen (You’ve Never Had It So Good)’ [online] gobsquad.com Available from http://www.gobsquad.com/projects/gob-squads-kitchen-youve-never-had-it-so-good [Accessed 01 December 2014].

Westerside, Andrew (2014) Postmodernity, mediatised and global cultures. [lecture] Current Issues in Drama, Theatre and Performance DRA9020M-1415, University of Lincoln, 1 October.  

Contemporary Dramaturgy

Mo Rangwalla /

According to Lehmann and Primavesi’s Dramaturgy on Shifting Grounds, the current development of theatre and performance takes place in ‘changing cultural landscapes, defined by new media technologies and new perceptional habits’ (Lehmann and Primavesi, 2009, 3). This of course means that these shifting grounds that theatre institutions have to face because of this constant development of theatre and performance are indeed the ‘changing realities of a global media culture’ (Lehmann and Primavesi, 2009, 3). Needless to say, Lehmann and Primavesi state that this concept does not imply that theatre should adopt to these changes of media realities.

Considering Lehmann and Primavesi’s inclusion of media in relation to the current development of theatre and performance, I had decided to further research on media technologies’ involvement in these aspects, in the hope that media realities is considered in other issues in drama, theatre and performance.

Lehmann, H. and Primavesi, P. (2009) Performance and Research 14 (3), pp 3-6.

What I have learnt so far…

Mo Rangwalla /

It has been eight weeks since we have started this module and during these eight productive weeks, I managed to have ended up in an artist’s block. As I quickly gathered in the first week how incredibly intensive this module was, it suddenly came upon me that this rigorous practical assignment which will be showcased in a matter of weeks was beneficial to us as artists, as it will allow us to cover new ground on this notion of drama, theatre and performance.