The “Suspension of Disbelief” is a vital notion in any live stage performance.  We know we are sitting in a comfortable theatre in Washington, D.C. watching actors — and not in a gloomy, dark, forest in Germany watching murderers in the night — and we willingly suspend reality in favor of disbelieving what our eyes and minds are telling us is not real.

If we are unwilling to imagine — or to Suspend our Disbelief — we are not honoring the sacred covenant between watcher and live performer.

Our demand to force reality into artifice will irretrievably shatter any live performance:  We don’t go along with the notion; the plot will never propel us forward.

That’s why shattering the fourth wall is such a vile contraption — it is ill-conceived in every reality and invented enterprise — because you cannot suspend disbelief when you have an actor actively smashing the invisible wall that protects, and defends, your disbelief.

Any live performance must always have the Suspension of Disbelief integrated into the DNA of any seed that inspires the hope for filling an empty space.

It is our moral duty and our cohesive quest to bring together vast and various minds — some of them unwilling or unable to disbelieve — and needfully show them the way of the why, and then give them a reason to suspend reality in favor of something grander and something more humanly communal than their less important and selfish want to remain stoically alone and factual in their brittle facade of a life.

10 Comments

  1. David Boles – New York City – David Boles was born in Nebraska and holds an MFA from the Oscar Hammerstein II Center for Theatre Studies at Columbia University in the City of New York. He is an author, dramatist, editor, publisher, and teacher who writes across the live stage, print, radio, television, film, and the web. With more than 50 books in print, David continues to write 2MM words a year and has authored over 25K articles. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild, the Authors Guild, and PEN America, and founded The United Stage advocacy platform on the principle that playwrights have a duty to direct their own work. Read the Prairie Voice Archive at Boles.com | Buy his books at David Boles Books Writing & Publishing at BolesBooks.com | Study with Script Professor at ScriptProfessor.com | Touch American Sign Language mastery at Hardcore ASL at HardcoreASL.com | Explore the Human Meme podcast at HumanMeme.com | Train with Boles Bells at BolesBells.com.
    Gordon Davidescu says:

    I watched a production of Frankenstein in which, for the first hour, I simply couldn’t do it. The production was just so minimal that my brain couldn’t fill in all of the blanks they left — the maid opening an invisible window, for example. I think I would have had a better time now, however. A little maturity has done wonders for me. 🙂

  2. David Boles – New York City – David Boles was born in Nebraska and holds an MFA from the Oscar Hammerstein II Center for Theatre Studies at Columbia University in the City of New York. He is an author, dramatist, editor, publisher, and teacher who writes across the live stage, print, radio, television, film, and the web. With more than 50 books in print, David continues to write 2MM words a year and has authored over 25K articles. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild, the Authors Guild, and PEN America, and founded The United Stage advocacy platform on the principle that playwrights have a duty to direct their own work. Read the Prairie Voice Archive at Boles.com | Buy his books at David Boles Books Writing & Publishing at BolesBooks.com | Study with Script Professor at ScriptProfessor.com | Touch American Sign Language mastery at Hardcore ASL at HardcoreASL.com | Explore the Human Meme podcast at HumanMeme.com | Train with Boles Bells at BolesBells.com.
    David W. Boles says:

    Minimal and bored have nothing to do with Suspension of Disbelief, Gordon. You should never be bored in a theatre. If you are, then there is likely something wrong with the production. The Suspension of Disbelief is more that you accept there is a living monster before you named Frankenstein and that you understand he is afraid of fire, and he was created by a mad scientist, and so on…

  3. ANNE – I live and teach on the upper West Coast of the United States. My interests are Philosophy, English, and Social Communication.
    anne90210 says:

    Are stand up comedians included in this? Don’t they have to break the wall? Singers in concert? Don’t they talk to audience?

  4. David Boles – New York City – David Boles was born in Nebraska and holds an MFA from the Oscar Hammerstein II Center for Theatre Studies at Columbia University in the City of New York. He is an author, dramatist, editor, publisher, and teacher who writes across the live stage, print, radio, television, film, and the web. With more than 50 books in print, David continues to write 2MM words a year and has authored over 25K articles. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild, the Authors Guild, and PEN America, and founded The United Stage advocacy platform on the principle that playwrights have a duty to direct their own work. Read the Prairie Voice Archive at Boles.com | Buy his books at David Boles Books Writing & Publishing at BolesBooks.com | Study with Script Professor at ScriptProfessor.com | Touch American Sign Language mastery at Hardcore ASL at HardcoreASL.com | Explore the Human Meme podcast at HumanMeme.com | Train with Boles Bells at BolesBells.com.
    David W. Boles says:

    Suspension of Disbelief is that you agree to go along with something that cannot be real or true on stage in the real time of your current life.
    You’re right that comedians and singers often break the fourth wall. I always prefer singers like Waylon Jennings who pretend there is no audience and respect the fourth wall. They come on stage and sing songs and leave. There’s no idle banter or joking around or encouraging the audience to sing along.

  5. Kathakali Chatterjee – Hyderabad, India – Professionally, I have an interesting concoction of experience -- from entertainment industry to retailing to executive education -- the journey is still on. When I don't work, I love to travel, read, listen to music and watch movies.
    kathakali.chatterjee says:

    If I understand it correctly, this theory of Suspension of disbelief has to be natural/ willing and not forced…

  6. David Boles – New York City – David Boles was born in Nebraska and holds an MFA from the Oscar Hammerstein II Center for Theatre Studies at Columbia University in the City of New York. He is an author, dramatist, editor, publisher, and teacher who writes across the live stage, print, radio, television, film, and the web. With more than 50 books in print, David continues to write 2MM words a year and has authored over 25K articles. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild, the Authors Guild, and PEN America, and founded The United Stage advocacy platform on the principle that playwrights have a duty to direct their own work. Read the Prairie Voice Archive at Boles.com | Buy his books at David Boles Books Writing & Publishing at BolesBooks.com | Study with Script Professor at ScriptProfessor.com | Touch American Sign Language mastery at Hardcore ASL at HardcoreASL.com | Explore the Human Meme podcast at HumanMeme.com | Train with Boles Bells at BolesBells.com.
    David W. Boles says:

    Suspension of Disbelief is more of a standing agreement than anything. It’s an excuse to allow pretending.

  7. Pingback: Texas Mud and Racism in The King and I | United Stage
  8. Pingback: Joe Walsh on Live Performance: Be in the Same Room Together | United Stage
  9. Pingback: YUUUP! Storage Wars is Fake! | Celebrity Semiotic
  10. Pingback: Beyonce Fakes Reality Once Again « Boles Blogs

Comments are closed.