Expressions of Reality

When reality and make belief collide they create a fantastic cocktail of art that is relatable and also can make you think critically, that can challenge you, that is emotionally stimulating and exciting.

In regards to real life, to us a as people we perform a similar collision. Beneath the surface of a lot people is their true reality. And what they show us is a facade and we see and belief in what we have been given.

If art is a form of expression but the unreal masquerades as the real to almost be deceptive... How do you respond to expressions of lies?

Some actors will tell you that we as audience members are not supposed to know that what they we watching is acting. Styles which are increasingly naturalistic have performed to their point of blending into real life so well, that the fourth wall is void instead of present or removed.

The soap operas on T.V are one example of many of a naturalistic drama.  They are also an example of the rare audience members, so entranced by what is in front of them, engulfing them, that they genuinely believe that what they are watching is real.

Other dramatists such as Brecht believe that we as viewers should always be aware that what we are watching is a created piece. Therefore we should think critically upon it or at the very least, not let it patronise us theoretically by washing over us, leaving us mentally untouched.

This thinking translated into Brecht's style of theatre where the acting styles were obviously un-naturalistic. There is no escapism in that kind of drama, no brief moment of relief where you just relax and watch because you are constantly reminded that you are an audience member to what is happening in front of you, challenging you, so much that you choose to stop trying to watch with primarily your heart and use firstly or only, your head instead.

Yet isn't one of the integral aspects of art that it communicates and showcases life in a way which helps us to engage, even to dare to understand it?

This manifesto for theatre could still be fulfilled without the need to desperately convince your audience that you have created a true reality. We can fabricate it but we can never recreate it. We can believe it, but is it true?

​To get lost with our imaginations can be a helpful exercise for the artist. But losing ourselves completely is an unnecessary risk. Because if we are trying to recreate reality then we are no longer creating art for art is a representation of reality.