Understanding Performance Theory

“Audiences, I think, tend to be fairly sophisticated. They don’t go to the theatre for history lessons of the day’s news…” [Doug Wright] I must admit that I often change my mind every time I see a movie begin with the words “Based on real events”. A few times, this phrase or some version of it has appeared at the end of a motion picture, and I have immediately felt cheated. I belong to the group of people who take solace in the untruthful nature of fiction. There is something about couching the most unimaginable deeds possible by human-kind in the hammock of make-believe, that makes fiction more attractive than any documentary could ever be. Even though fiction is arguably based on the continued study and observation of human beings operating in and out of their natural habitats, its relationship with what is ‘real’ is clear. Works of fiction allow me as an audience member to enjoy the story without thinking too hard about where exactly it came from. Here, I ...

TERMIN-HAIR-TER Hair: I grow. Scalp: I itch. Finger: I scratch. Brain: I cut. Scalp: I must say, this breeze is lovely. Hair : I’m back. Although I am not sure that I admire (I would use the words “really like”) Relient K as an artistic collective, I was very impressed by one of their songs when I was about seventeen years old. I remember listening to Death Bed while I did my homework and getting distracted because the song seemed never-ending. In addition to that, it progressed more as a story rather than going via the somewhat traditional route of verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus. There were discernible verses, but they kind of changed as the story required rather than maintaining a predictable progression. The song is ten minutes long; quite tame in comparison to John Cage's As Slow As Possible.  It follows the story of a man who lives a long, tumultuous life and finally comes face to face wi...