Mark Morrison

The Space and The Spectator: The Invisible Connection Between The
Spectator and The Performer
I can take any empty space and call it a bare stage. A man walks across this empty
space whilst someone else is watching him, and this is all that is needed for an act of
theatre to be engaged. (Brook, P. 2008: 11)
A reduction of the essence of theatre and breaking down the walls of theatre will
result in three conventions. The empty space, the performer and finally the spectator.
To make this a possibility, one must eliminate useful or helpful, but which are not
essential elements of performance. This includes lighting effects, sound effects,
projection, scenery and costume. To strip down the whole mise en scne to absolute
essential elements, two groups of people will remain, the performer and the
audience. Furthermore the division between the stage and the spectators are easily
removed. Richard Southerns attempt to get at the heart of what theatre really is
(McAuley, G. 1999: 3) sums this up when suggesting that removing costume, moving
scenery and mask will probably fall apart two separate pieces, leaving nothing
inside; those two pieces would be the Player and the Audience. Take these apart
and you can have no theatre (Southern, R 1962: 21). For Richard Southern, as for
Peter Brook, Stanislavski, Brecht, Chekhov and mostly all of the successful theatre
practitioners of the last century have one thing in common when it comes to
whatever method or form they wish to pursue, they believe that theatre is to be
found in the relationship between performer and spectator. (McAuley, G. 1999: 3).
An essential question remains, how does the actor achieve a sense of connection
with the spectator?
Mark Morrison

Our post-modernist society has resulted in a change of theatre which highlights this
type of performance where the connection between the spectator and performer has
intensified creating a type of theatre which defies rules, builds and shatters illusions
and creates lasting memories for audiences. The German philosopher, cultural critic
and poet Friedrich Nietzsche wrote about postmodernism, suggesting in his famous
assertion Thus Spake Zarathustra that this old God liveth no more. He is dead
indeed (Nietzsche, F. 1957: 231) Kenneth Pickering suggests that what Nietzsche
means by this is that there are no facts, no truth, only interpretations in a
postmodernist world. Our contemporary paradigm of theatre is surrounded by
interpretive pieces and minds which is different to a theatre such as the Elizabethan
Period, where the stage was used as a medium to project a message or a story to an
audience. No interpretations are required with a passive audience. Therefore We no
longer live in the days when playwrights wanted to explain to their audience the truth
of social relations (Rancire, J. 2011: 11). Maaike Bleekers key idea sums up the
contemporary audience, as she believes in the term Seers rather than Spectator
meaning the one who sees and an overseer, an inspector who creates their own
interpretations, she sums this up as she writes The seer is someone who sees
things that are not there: future things, absent things. Seeing always involves
projections, fantasies, desires and fears, and might be closer to hallucinating than
we think. (Bleeker, M. 2008: 18) There are many methods to achieve this sense of
connection with an interpretative audience, from John Wrights extension of Michael
Chekhovs work on mask and archetypes, to Lee Strasbergs interpretation on
Konstantin Stanislavskis system which he named the Method where the
spectators reality is a suspension of disbelief, to finally immersive contemporary
performances which explore and create new methods to reach this connection, so
Mark Morrison

essentially, allowing the spectator to interpret their own meaning. All three methods
will be covered throughout this paper.
I think, therefore I am (Descartes cited in Sutcliffe, F.E. 1968: 18-19)
Ren Descartes proposes the idea that our mind and body are connected as one,
our physical movement comes out of a psychological basis which for an actor,
enables him or her to access a method of psychological realism which can be used
to trick a spectator into believing that what they are passively witnessing is real.
Interpretations can be created, even if they are emotional responses to this type of
performance stemming from the Actor-training of the American Method in which Lee
Strasbergs Method is one of the top regarded forms. In Method acting as for
Stanislavskis System the exploration of the mind and imagination creates the
characters inner feelings, gradually expressed by the outer feelings allowing the
body to communicate through physical action, creating a connection with these inner
feelings to the audience. Stanislavski as for Strasberg was striving towards the truth
on stage, or as its commonly known as Realism. At the end of two years on
working on The System Stanislavski told his group of actors All that you have
learned in these two years now lies confused in your minds. It will not be easy to
assemble and fix all the elements which we have analysed and extracted with our
sensibility, one by one. Yet what we have found is nothing more than the simplest,
most human condition. (Stanislavski, K. cited in Barba, E. & Savarese, N. 1991:
150) Lee Strasberg similarly to Stanislavski worked towards the real human
experience, he looked for his actors to connect with the audience on an emotional
psychological level achieving this by extending on Stanislavskis proposal of
Affected Memory. If done correctly the actor would achieve reality on stage, an
audiences perception of reality would gradually disintegrate and a sense of empathy
Mark Morrison

would enter the spectators mind. We can see a clear connection with Bleekers
contemporary idea of seers as the spectator can see desires, and fears in the
character projected by the actors emotional and physical response to the content.
The connection through Method acting however can result in a loss of reception for
the audience. Not everyone is an admirer of Method acting, professionals such as
Charles Laughton approached his actress Eli Wallach, a student of the Method, and
said firmly I dont want any of that Stanislavsky shit from you. (Law, J. (ed.) 2011:
484) It could also be argued that projection is a problem for the Method actor. A critic
says on the documentary film Lee Strasberg: The Method Man they tend to distort
the text very often because the emotion for them is more interesting than the words
(Beavan, C 1998 [DVD]). Critically, looking at this opinion one could suggest that one
of the most fundamental parts of achieving the connection with an audience, in
projection when delivering a line can be lost due to the psychological thought
process. This was ever representable when Strasberg took his production of Anton
Chekhovs The Three Sisters to the World Theatre Season Of 1965 dubbed to be a
memorable disaster. This was evidently confirmed when Sandy Dennis delivered the
line, oh its been a terrible evening connecting with the audience in a different way
intended by her and her director Strasberg, research suggests that it was reported
someone in the audience called out It sure has been! and the house roared in
laughter. (Law, J. (ed.) 2011: 484) Further research suggests that an article in 1965
titled Chekhov the Method Way published a slaughtering review of the production
stating that so much promise faded into a such a lot of gloom. Evidence that Method
acting is not always the correct medium to achieve the invisible connection between
the spectator and the performer.
Mark Morrison

Despite the negative reviews left by press after Strasbergs London visit he still
became one of the most successful practitioners in the last century. Affective
Memory is a great way to work for film due to the portrayal of the emotional psyche
of the character, but for theatre it could be suggested that his extension on
Stanislavskis proposal does not work as good as other Methods of actor-training.
Despite Stella Adler objecting to his spin on Stanislavskis system after meeting the
inspiration behind it in 1934, Strasberg was insistent that he was right in what he was
doing, although Stanislavski told Adler that what Strasberg was practicing was the
wrong way to put his form into practice. Stanislavski also considered the body over
the mind as he believed in physical action. Jean Benedetti suggests that
Stanislavskis idea of Physical Action is the basis of acting (Benedetti 1998:16). As
well as the psychological process in the actors mind contributing to the illusion of the
suspension of disbelief, Stanislavski also insisted that the body was also an
important factor stating that Physical Action is what an audience sees, interprets
movement, stance, gesture to understand the meaning of the play (Benedetti
1998: 16) to also, critically one could suggest through analysing this quote, finalise
and without doubt achieve a connection with the spectator on a psychological level.
As Rene Descartes suggests the mind and body are connected as one, with Lee
Strasberg focusing on the mind before the physical self, it is clear that his philosophy
entails around the actors emotional response to the content. One could suggest that
Thodule Ribot sums this up beautifully as he believed that a disembodied emotion
is a non-existent one (Thodule Ribot cited in Hodge, A. (ed.) 2000: 16). But has
philosophy in our contemporary paradigm shifted from the mind to the body? For
Merleau-Ponty this is the case as Phillip Zarrilli suggests that he believed there was
a shift from I think to an examination of the I can of the body, i.e., sight and
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movement as modes of entering into internsensory relationships with objects, or
The world (Zarrilli, P. 2004: 655)
Michael Chekhov is a theatre practitioner who focused on the body before the mind,
with his famous work on Psychological Gesture, the Actors Grasp of the External
Image, which allows the actor to play with the relationship of an object and finally his
work on Atmosphere and Mood which allows the actor to play with the final
ingredient of Merleau-Pontys thoughts, an internsensory relationship with The
World of the given circumstances of the content. Archetypal Mask or Centres which
Chekhov worked with is also a proven recipe for an actor to work from the physicality
rather than the mind. John Wrights extension of this type of work allows the actor to
step into at least ten Archetypal Masks and Qualities, all recognizable and
therefore connectable for a wide range of audiences. The Archetypal Mask is an
alternative way to connect with a character, opposing Lee Strasbergs Method.
The idea of Archetype itself was first proposed by Switzerland born psychiatrist and
psychotherapist Carl Gustav Jung. In his book The Archetypes and The Collective
Unconscious he proposes that the human race has a collective unconscious which is
not individual, but universal; he writes in contrast the personal psyche, it has
contents and modes of behaviour that are more or less the same everywhere and in
all individuals [] a suprapersonal nature which is present in every one of us. (Jung,
C.G. cited in Read, H., Fordham, M. & Adler, G. (ed.) 1959: 3-4). One could suggest
that what Jung is proposing is that inside each and every one of us there is an
unconscious mode or behaviour which includes a primitive tribal lore concerned with
Archetypes. Jung suggests that the term archetype applies only indirectly to the
reprsentations collectives, [] a historical formula that has evolved. (Jung, C.G.
cited in Read, H., Fordham, M. & Adler, G. (ed.) 1959: 5).
Mark Morrison

The word representations is interesting in terms of the physicality of an actor which
Michael Chekhov and John Wright strive towards. A representation is an act of
presenting an image or likeness of something or someone. This can be connected
with Archetypal Mask as the qualities and masks are images which are easily
representable for an actor and easily conceivable for an audience, with ten Masks
in conjunction with ten Qualities these are:
Archetype
(Representation)
Centre of Gravity (In
Physical Body)
Mantra (Vocal Quality)
Hero High centre of chest Of course I can
Fool Very low groin area I dont understand
Child Quite high upper chest Ok!
Huntress Centre throat What are you looking
at?
Maiden Centre cheek, feet
inwards
Ive got a secret
Mother Centre heavy below
navel
I understand
Trickster Lips raise one eyebrow Maybe
Devil Centre Eyes/Forehead Im so beautiful
Does it hurt?
Crone Elbows out of body Is this mine?
Sage External out of body This Mantra can be any of
the above.

Mark Morrison

These physical representations or Archetypes are evidently universal for all animals,
not just for Humans. In every animal kingdom you can see a Mother, a Huntress, a
Child etc. Relating this to performance, if correctly rehearsed and performed it could
be suggested that through these physical representations the spectators primitive
instincts connect with the actor immediately through his or her unconscious. This
therefore could provide the answer to one of the purest and most truthful
connections any acting technique can provide for the spectator, therefore it could be
suggested that an actor who firstly looks at their physicality before their mind creates
an immediate shortcut into the spectators invisible, interpretative and connectable
mind.
A discovery made by Giacomo Rizzolatti alongside his colleagues at the University
Of Parma, Italy in the 1980s and 1990s highlights once more that a primitive
physical representation far outweighs any contextualized thoughts inside the actors
mind. The discovery of Mirror Neurons has been touted as one of the most
important of modern neuroscience. These cells in the brain have been linked to
many behaviours and abilities, from empathy to learning by imitation, as well as
implicated in conditions such as autism. (Costandi, M. 2013). Found in the premotor
cortex of the brain, a part of the brain involved in planning and executing
movements, these cells allow new born babies and monkeys the ability to reflect or
copy physical movements by another human being or ape. For example, if a human
sticks a tongue out at a new born child, the baby will eventually copy the fellow
human and start to represent physical movements that he or she has seen. This
representation happens all the way through childhood, as the child can develop
speech, movements and habits through copying or representing others. Therefore
this research could suggest there is evidence that an innate primal instinct exists in
Mark Morrison

all of us and that we are universally connected through observing and representing
other physicalitys, suggesting that Archetypes are a primitive way to connect with a
spectator.
Archetypes are not only useful to connect with a spectator on a primitive level, but
are also a helping agent for the actors Vocal Quality. Projection for an actor is an
important factor for establishing a connection with not only the spectator, but the
space and his or her fellow players. It is recommended first using the archetypal
technique for vocal qualities that the voice or speech comes out of the physicality or
representation of the chosen archetype. Training for this is an important factor, Peter
Brook states that An untrained body is like an untuned musical instrument its
sounding box is filled with a confusing and ugly jangle of useless noise that prevents
the true melody from being heard. (Brook, P. cited in Zinder, D. 2009: 3) Therefore
the actor should steer clear of voice, words or text for as long as possible. The
training should come from the purely physical to the discovery of the sound
produced by the moving body (Zinder, D. 2009: 5) Archetypes are a way to do this,
as the Mantra of each representation coincides. Dario Fos technique on grammelot
can also help with the discovery of the vocal quality as the actor does not have to
think of words or text when performing the vocal quality out of the physicality of the
Archetype.
Psychological Gesture is another technique which can complement Archetypal
Mask. This widely known technique of Michael Chekhov allows the actor to
organically find physical equivalents for feelings, intentions, personality. (Benedetti,
J. 2007: 153). Imagine as an actor throwing an invisible net over the spectators
seating area when delivering one of your lines, this is a type of Psychological
Gesture. The actor would firstly experiment by literally physically throwing an
Mark Morrison

invisible net over an audience whilst saying a piece of text or a vocal quality, the
actor would then internalise this physical movement thus allowing the actor to project
and connect with the audience. Combing this and Archetypes can create a haven of
connection for the spectator, and this form of acting can not only be used in Realism
but also other forms of performance too. This rehearsal and acting technique can
complement a wide genre such as Expressionism, Dance, Singing, and more. This is
one fundamental difference between Method acting and Michael Chekhovs work,
the versatility of the techniques used by Chekhov and John Wrights extension of
Archetypal Mask can reach and connect with a wider range of audiences. Eugino
Barba & Nichola Savarese agree with this critical opinion as they suggest that
working with Method acting is useful only for naturalistic or realistic actors (Barba,
E. & Savarese, N. 1991: 150).
With these two proven acting techniques covered, a piece of research conducted at
Edge Hill University on the 18
th
of December 2013 suggests that there was a
fundamental difference of connection between the performer and the spectator. Two
five minute performances where shown, as evidence suggests that the two forms of
actor-training produce different opinions from the audience:
Acting Technique Spectators Comments
The Method (Lee Strasberg) I found myself emotionally connected to
the piece through empathy. It was a
powerful monologue which definitely
connected with a sense of truth and
reality to the performance.
The Chekhov Technique with Projection and Diction was a definite
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Archetypal Mask (Michael Chekhov &
John Wright)
factor for the connection of the piece. I
could see that the actor was allowing
the connection with the space and the
archetype to control his physicality and
vocal chords which drew me in as a
spectator.
The Method (Lee Strasberg) The piece was emotional, but at times I
could feel the connection slip as words
where mumbled. The emotional
performance was convincing but when
the projection levels fluctuated and the
diction faded the performance as a
spectator made me aware that it was in
fact a performance.
The Chekhov Technique with
Archetypal Mask (Michael Chekhov &
John Wright)
The performers external image was
clear, as the dialogue was performed
directly to the audience, through the
open physical gesture as well as the
clear dialogue the connection was
thorough and well established. Through
the actors physicality I immediately
connected to what type of character
was being portrayed. (representation)

Mark Morrison

In our contemporary period the idea of immersive theatre is on the rise. Costume,
performers, design, and scenery are all considered to allow the spectator to be
involved or Immersed in the performance as much as possible. Punchdrunk are an
immersive theatre company formed in 2000 who set out to create a theatrical space
where the spectator is free to choose what to watch and where to go. The spectators
are invited to follow the performers and themes or rather explore the world of
performance, treating it almost as a large art exhibition. The company states that
The creation and legacy of the worlds that Punchdrunk make are transformative for
those who participate in their construction and presentation and those who
experience them first hand as auidences. (Higgin, P 2013) In their latest and largest
ever project The Drowned Man which was performed in a vast former sorting office
next door to Paddington Station in London, over four floors where transformed into
gloomy corridors, bedsits, shops, bars, trees, caravans, chapels, even a working
cinema. (Masters, T 2013) this allowed the spectator to be flexible with a choice of
performances or installations which the spectator themselves can either choose or
not choose what to see.
The Spectators, as Felix Barrett, punchdrunks artistic director suggests can almost
feel the breath of the performers on them (Masters, T 2013) suggesting that the
barrier between spectator and performer is non-existent. One could suggest that this
allows the spectator to have a completely different experience to another as Barrett
intends to remove the spectators comfort zone and lose them in a parallel universe.
Masks are given to the spectator to enhance their connection with the performer as
Barrett suggests that this enables the audience to become anonymous and get
closer to the action [] The mask enables them to become the camera. (Masters, T
2013) This form of performance differs to that of the actor-training which this paper
Mark Morrison

covered earlier, a fundamental difference one could suggests is that immersive
theatre does not have to involve the performer to achieve the connection, rather the
spectator chooses what type of experience they wish to have. With the idea
proposed earlier of the Method and Archetypes these rely on an actor to achieve
the connection, which as mentioned earlier can create embarrassment if executed
wrong.
Other types of performance allow the spectator to endure a one to one connection
with the performer. To do this the space, and the performer must be stripped down to
absolute essential elements, to create a form of theatre whereas mentioned before a
performer and a spectator in one space can endure each others presence. Yoko
Onos cut piece looked to explore this opportunity. Avant-Garde at the time, Yoko
Ono created an invitation for each spectator to cut a piece of clothing off her. In
these first performances by Ono, the artist sat kneeling on the concert hall stage,
wearing her best suit of clothing, with a pair of scissors placed on the floor in front of
her. Members of the audience were invited to approach the stage, one at a time, and
cut a bit of her clothes off which they were allowed to keep. (Concannon, K. 2010)
This one to one connection with the spectator and the performer completely destroys
traditional theatre roots. Yoko Ono defined during this performance, that long gone
are the days when audiences where passive, where audiences came to sit down at
an event to see reality on stage. In our contemporary paradigm we see that a
spectator and a performer can interact with each other. It is also interesting to hear
that Ono allowed the spectator to keep a piece of clothing which they themselves cut
off, a personal touch which connects the spectator and the performer even after the
performance has finished and up until whenever the spectator wishes to no longer
be associated with it. In Onos second version of the performance, spectators
Mark Morrison

themselves were asked to cut each others clothes if they wished, taking the
connection even further in the space, allowing interactions between not only the
performer, but the auditorium itself.
Marina Abramovic a Yugoslavian born artist took this further famously as she
created a performance called Rhythm 0 in 1974. Known for her performances
married with physicality, endurance with empathy, complicity with loss of control and
passivity with danger, this piece pushed the boundaries of self-discovery both for her
the player and her spectators. Rhythm 0 allowed Abramovic to offer herself as an
object of experimentation for the audience, thereby including their actions in the
performance itself (Abramovic, M 2014) Allowing the spectator to choose their
actions, this took the connection further than what Yoko Ono managed to achieve as
the spectators for her performance could only interact with the performer in one way.
For the spectator witnessing Rhythm 0 there was 72 choices from 72 objects which
were allowed to be used in any way that they chose. Some could give the performer
pleasure, while others could be used to inflict pain. Among the objects were a
feather, honey, rose, a gun, a bullet, scissors and a whip. With a mix between pain
and pleasure Abramovic gifted her trust to the spectator, she allowed the spectator
to make this experiment a spectacle. Abramovic described later after the
performance; What I learned was that if you leave it up to the audience, they can
kill you. [] I felt really violated: they cut my clothes, stuck rose thorns in my
stomach, one person aimed the gun at my head, and another took it away.
(Abramovic cited in Gopi, A 2013). A relationship between all three of these case
studies can be related back to the term Seers. As mentioned earlier Seers see
things that are not there, they see desires and fears, with these type of performances
the Seers are free to carry this out.
Mark Morrison

The empty space is a licence for two groups of people to intertwine, whether that be
through the unconscious, through empathy, or through interaction. What has drawn
humans into performance and spectacle for the past two thousand years has been
down to one thing. To discover the truth, to recreate the human condition. We as
humans crave interaction and attention from our fellow mammals throughout our
lives, we see this from the inferior parietal cortex of the brain which includes Mirror
Neurons, to the unconscious primitive recognition of representations we call
Archetypes. A theatre without the connection between the performer and the
spectator should be ridiculed and treated with curiosity, a theatre with an invisible
connection between the performer and the spectator should be embraced socially
and culturally not just in our contemporary period, but also in the future. This
connection holds the key to the truth, no matter what form or method, whether it be
theatre in education, immersive theatre, realism, or surrealism. The connection
between the performer and the spectator in theatre has and always will, be ever
present.
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Mark Morrison

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