ABSTRACT
“The view from the audience” considers the audience members’ perspectives of the actors. The chapter draws from interviews with 21 American, British, German and French audience members. Commencing with a discussion of what role the audience plays when they arrive at the theatre, the chapter then considers the audience member’s view of the actors from the “house”: who they see and how they experience the actors. Many audience members experience the theatre world as a hyperreality. Proximity to the stage emerges as an important aspect in the audience interviews. Edward Bullough’s and Edward Hall’s theories of distance are explored to describe the psychological and spatial conversations between audience members and actors. The encounter with the actors and double consciousness also become important audience views from the auditorium. In the interviews, audience members were often preoccupied with actor presence. Audience perceptions of the actor’s presence as drawing power, charisma, a space-filling phenomenon and as being “comfortable” onstage are discussed at length. Audience member comments about their relationships with the char/actors onstage are disseminated throughout the chapter.
