FREE ESSAY ON NEW TO THE MEDIA

NEW TO THE MEDIA

I have never been to a live play performance before, but I have seen one on video. I loved
it as though I was reading a great storybook; being able to stop at anytime and pick up
where I left off, but I never thought about the relationship between the performers and
the audience. Nor did I think of the impact of all of the aspects that deal with creating
a play and giving a great performance. For my first live play I went to go see Polaroid
Stories; a play I thought would not be so shocking to a first time audience member. I was
wrong; this play almost literally looked me in the face and slapped me. The play had the
look of a run down playhouse that had little funding and little direction, but I later
pieced it together that they made it part of the play, and obviously you are not supposed
to see those who are back stage directing. 
Additionally, I over looked the performers' costumes, the stage lighting, and set design;
everything I took for granted. I thought I could see the props and everything that was
strategically placed or used, but I missed them all. I was surprised at how these people
in charge took the look of a run down playhouse and made it their stage. This was life on
life's canvas and it was totally different from watching television. Everything became so
tangible and real. For a moment I lost my self and really got into the play. I didn't
think I was watching a group of people on a set acting for my entertainment, I felt I was
actually watching life. As if I stepped out of my body for a moment and walked the
streets seeing the life of these street kids. You can't exactly get that from television;
your mind is constantly running when you watch this play. The fact that the stage was
right in front of me does not compare to television. If I took one step forward I would
have been on stage, if I wasn't already. One of the actors I felt breeze by me, and I
could smell the smoke of another actor's cigarette. I kept having the feeling I was
there, that the whole stage was really outside.
The stage was the one aspect that kept me believing. The way everything was setup, the
closeness it brought between the performers and the audience, and the sounds it created
when the actors walked across it or banged on it. I felt apart of the stage and I guess
that is why I felt so close to the action of the stories, and how I got lost in them.
Going to this play was a new experience, but watching this play was a crash course in the
emotion you can actually get from the way everything is setup. This new media had an
impact on me that you can not get from television. And I've come to the assumption that
you can save lots of money by going to good theatres like this, than by purchasing
surround sound for television. You can hear the closeness with all the speakers you need,
but you'll never get that tangible feeling as if the performers or the stage are really
there.