The Danger of Theater

Paper Summary:

This paper contends that theater can be dangerous on a variety of levels. The paper presents Plato's main concern, that art distracted otherwise reasonable people from using their reason to rule the other faculties. This concern appears to be a prominent feature in the dangers posed by the theater as expounded by Artaud and Boal. Artaud's theater concentrates mainly on the psychological aspect. It places people in touch with the primitive and instinctive to the detriment of reason. While the advantage here is that repressed emotions are revealed to be examined and possibly healed, it is also possible that a permanently broken psyche may result. The paper discusses Boal's theater, on the other hand, that poses a variety of levels in terms of both danger and healing. There is a psychological aspect that may be seen as similar to Artaud's theater. At the psychological level, Boal also addresses the subconscious in terms of dissatisfaction. In extreme cases, this may lead to a breakdown between the desired state and the state of dissatisfaction. The mental and physical aspects of danger are detailed in the paper.

From the Paper:

"The theater is probably the medium of art by means of which the most prominent of social sentiments can be depicted. Furthermore the theater lends itself to a variety of forms, including the highly experimental. One of the most recent evolutions in theater has been including the audience in the setting and theme of the play. Indeed, among the most modern thinkers is Augusto Boal, who takes this paradigm a step further in allowing the audience to actively take part in the creation of the very events within the play. The idea that art in whatever form could pose a danger to society and its way of life originates with Plato, whose main concern was with the art of poetry. Plato's thought was embedded in the politics and social structure of his time. According to him, then, the danger of poetry lay in the fact that it could distract citizens from their duties as citizens in the Republic. The role of poetry during Plato's time then was more or less the same as the role of theater today."

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