All The World's A Stage

The discussion in class prompted me to think back on my high school days (glory days everybody!). I did a lot of theater and I thought I would share a little about the behind the scenes of the life of an actress. Especially because it is that perspective that helps me understand better what all effects performance and the whole play experience.

1st: The Stage

In 2009 I participated in the Nauvoo Pageant. It was one of the best experience of my life so far. The production was difficult however, because we had a raked stage. This is where the stage is on an angle, or slope, and the audience is flat. It is opposite to what we normally see in theaters these days. Oh, and it was outside, so the slope we were using was more like a hill. Imagine dancing and performing on an incline! It was a workout, not to mention the sprained ankles we had.

But, I think this set up was especially good for when we were depicting the saints building the temple. It really was work, and the audience could see it.

2nd: The Audience

The people just sitting and watching are as much a part of the performance or event as the people who put on the show. They also affect the performance in a way that the actors can only tell. In my cast of "Foot Loose" our directer would talk about the energy of the audience. Laughter and clapping really is awesome encouragement to performers, we would act just a little different for every audience because of how they were responding. It was always interesting to see when the audience would laugh, because they would pick up on different jokes and background humor. 

Anyone else have experience with this? Have you ever gone to a show more than once and seen the difference? 

I think that is exactly why it is fun to go to different productions of the same Shakespeare play (especially because there are a million out there). Because everyone has a different flavor.