Perfomance is the Thing
article by Dzifa Benson (actress, poet)
http://philosophynow.org/issues/57/Performance_Is_The_Thing
In yet another article I have discovered in the fantastic e-magazine that is "Philosophy Now", I have found more theoretical thought related directly to our class discussions.
Benson centers the topic of discussion in her article on this quote by William Shakespeare:
“All the world’s a stage
And all the men and women merely players
They have their exits and their entrances
And one man in his time plays many parts”
Benson asks herself questions based on this expert, "if performance is a metaphor for life, then what is the nature of
performance? How does Shakespeare’s use of a theatrical metaphor to
represent the grand design of life interface with what I do as a
performer, in an artificially controlled setting, with an audience
primed and receptive to what I want to portray?".
These questions got my gears running as well. If life is a performance does this make our outward actions artificial since acting in theater is merely a portrayal or imitation of another character? Or can it be argued that, other than the motions we go through in a professional setting, that our outward actions are merely us performing our own characters? By saying our own characters I am referring to the self.
While Shakespeare does say all the world is a stage, I feel that it is important to separate performance in regards to theater from personal performance. I say this because in the field of acting your audience is fully aware you are portraying another character and are receptive to that, and the actor themselves is fully aware that they are portraying another. In our personal lives our others are not receptive to this performance as it stems from our self, but none the less I see the outward expressions of the self as a personal performance throughout life.
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