Normally, performance is thought of as a form of entertainment and art. However, in reality, people have been performing throughout in our social world. For instance, in the professional situations, individuals have been playing roles and presenting carefully prepared images to other people. They have mastered the art of presenting well-structured words, good use of props and costumes, and use the available space in a manner that helps with the achievement of the desired effect on other people. As a result, the paper will discuss the art of performance in my area of study, which is theatre. The discussion will also entail the roles played by people involved, special costume used, types of phrases used, how the audience can be impressed, and the overall desire of the professional performance.
When it comes to theatre, be it music or videography, performance is always the key to the human experience. The audience must always be captivated through various means, which might include steps, gurgles, and squeaks (Cohen-Cruz 10). Performance is one that factors that can make theatre become important to communities and economies as well. In theater, performance can either be unscripted or scripted depending the artists involved. Some can be random, carefully planned, or orchestrated with or without the participation of the audience. Also, performance in theatre can be live or viewed through a live media. In that case, the artists involved can either be present or absent. However, the artists are the ones who contribute to the drama that is associated with theatre. Usually, drama in theatre has the piece that brings that element of fiction. There must be a hero who has goals and for the hero to achieve these goals, the hero must be subjected to some obstacles. Therefore, the role of performance in theatre and art include is to bring ingredients such as goals, hero, and obstacles together. Without such ingredients, there will be no conflict created with the theater and without conflict, there will be no performance.
Not every person can perform a special role in theatre. People who normally do have the virtue, which they can exploit to get attention from the audience. Therefore, performance is more than just have the capability of captivating the audience. The hero artist must learn how to use whatever means available, including the theatre itself, music, dance, and well-organized words. Performance is also determined by the level of preparedness and the artist’s experience. Furthermore, some artists prefer using dances as one of the techniques for delivering excellent performance to the audience. Dance is always a language that comes with natural rhythm and it is usually expressed through the movement of the human body. It is something basic that can never disappear in the life of a performing artist. It can also be made professional depending on the degree of performance. Therefore, dancing is not just a matter of being physical. It should affect every emotion that is possessed by the performer and the audience at the same time. Dance is that one universal language that can be understood emotionally. The performer can intellectualize dance as much as possible, but if it does not bring that emotional connection between the artists and audience, then the artist involved will have delivered no role.
When performing a theatre to a given audience, the choice of that special costume is always very important. It is the costume, which will determine how a specific character will be perceived. The choice of the great costume will always bring that distinct connection that exists between the characters and the audience. For example, if the character in the theatre is a businessman, then the special costume for the character will be on suits. Consequently, illustrating the theme of success and social class. Additionally, costume helps in setting character in time and the required space, which can be a geographical place, imaginary place, or historical period (Nuttall 26). With special costumes in place, it is easy to approximate the gender and the age of the performing character. The approximation can be achieved when the character happed to use costumes such as hemlines, wigs, fabrics, makeup, fit, and colors. Even the theatric arts or plays, which do not have elements of social status have experiences that bring about economic and social hierarchies.
Costumes also help with the supporting of the theme, mood, and concept of the type of theatre being performed. The theatric theme will always exist because the performing artist and the writer involve having the thoughts to express. The concept of the theatre will determine how the theme is being expressed and it is through costumes that the audience will understand how the director expresses the concept of the theatre. Mood can be defined as that emotional feeling that suffuses experience (Longo 18). In that case, the mood can be described as joy, despair, and anger. Therefore, the manner in which special costumes will be used will result in the best interpretation of the concept and theme of the performance art or theatre. Special costumes bring about elements such as realism, color, stylization, scale, and texture. Realism is the closeness to the actual dress as required by the theatrical values (Kennedy 7). Stylization may include mixing of periods, abstraction, exaggeration, and distillation of periods. The color of the costume can be used to describe the personality of the individual and the whole picture of theatre as well. The scaling of the costumes must be realistic and can only be exaggerated depending on the type of humor or horror situation presented.
In conclusion, the impression to be received by the audience is always determined by the performing artist, phrases used during the performance, and the desire of the artist to take theatre to a professional level. Even though there are some factors involved, performance is still the key to the success of a given theatre. Theatrical arts can be properly written and correctly synthesized, however, without the great performance, the composer will have done zero work. It is the artist that brings that connection that exists between the audience and the theatric piece. The performing artist is the one who is responsible for the success of the theatric art.
Works Cited
Cohen-Cruz, Jan. Engaging Performance: Theatre As Call and Response. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis, 2012. Print.
Kennedy, Dennis. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Theatre " Performance. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005. Print.
Longo, Robert, Sam Hsieh, Paul Tschinkel, and Marc H. Miller. Performance Art. New York, NY: Inner-Tube Video, 2007.
Nuttall, Jeff. Performance Art: Vol. 1. London: J. Calder, 1980. Print.
