Four Spectators.

This article argues the importance of keeping the spectators in mind but not the public in theater. The public ordains success or failure, that is, something which has to do with breadth. The spectators, in their uniqueness, determine that which has to do with depth--they determine to what extent the performance has taken root in certain individual memories. The necessity of distinguishing between public and spectators derives from the will to consciously exploit an inevitable condition, even though some or many reactions can be unanimous and common, communion is impossible. Intense relationships can be established, but they are based upon reciprocal estrangement. This estrangement is not only a source of difficulties but can be exploited as a precious source of theatrical energy. Instead of trying to construct a performance as an organism which speaks to all spectators with the same voice, one can think of it as being composed of many voices which speak together without each voice necessarily speaking to all spectators. During the work on a performance there must be a moment in which the director crosses over to the other side and becomes the representative of spectators. The director must be loyal to them in the same way that he or she must be loyal to the actors. For a director to be loyal to the spectators does not just mean to interest them, to excite them, to entertain them, to move them. It means to master the techniques necessary to break up the unity of the public on the mental level.