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Introduction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 October 2010

Tracy C. Davis  and
Brace McConnachie
Tracy C. Davis
Affiliation:
Teaches in the Departments of Theatre, English, and Performance Studies at Northwestern University, where she is also Director of the Interdisciplinary Ph.D. in Theatre and Drama.
Brace McConnachie
Affiliation:
Director of Graduate Studies in Theatre Arts at the University of Pittsburgh. He has written widely on theatre historiography and audiences.
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Extract

Despite the etymological origins of “spectator” in looking and “audience” in hearing, the multiple activities involved in attending an event (whether formally in the theatre or in other reminiscent circumstances) involve the senses more than one at a time, and indeed they involve more than the senses. Some of the most compelling spectacles of the modern era, such as homelessness, seem to repel looking and hearing for too many who encounter them on the streets, and only hold the attention of a few when dramatized by Gorky in The Lower Depths.

Information

Type
Introduction
Information
Theatre Survey , Volume 39 , Issue 2 , November 1998 , pp. 1 - 5
Copyright
Copyright © American Society for Theatre Research 1998

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References

ENDNOTES

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