Amadeus: relationships between performers and audience

Relationship with the Audience

“Amadeus” is formulated as a memory play, a recounting of past events by Salieri, which creates a direct relationship with the audience. Salieri speaks directly to the audience, breaking the fourth wall.
This direct address creates the sense of the audience being confidantes or co-conspirators, inducted into the inner thoughts and the perceived treachery of Salieri. This enables active engagement and maintains their attention.
The use of dramatic irony further enhances the relationship between performers and audience. The audience, privy to Salieri’s schemes, know more than the other characters, especially Mozart.

Salieri’s narrative control influences the audience’s perspective. His portrayal of Mozart as a crude and vulgar person contrasts sharply with the Mozart known as a musical genius, challenging the audience’s existing prejudices and expectations.
The lack of historical accuracy in the character portrayals, while noticeable, serves to highlight the play’s themes such as envy and mediocrity versus genius, rather than to provide a biographical account.
By casting Salieri, a relatively unknown figure, as the central character, and Mozart, an hailed genius, as the supporting role, the play invites the audience to interrogate their own values and assumptions about talent, recognition, and success.

The use of Mozart’s music within the play ties in with the narrative and thematically underpins dramatic events. It also provides a strong emotional and sensory connection for the audience.
Changes in the setting and use of period costumes help to cement the historical context for the audience and enrich their understanding of the play’s time period and its impact on the characters.
The performance of two entirely different versions of Mozart’s opera, “The Magic Flute” and “Don Giovanni”, within the play injects added interest and intrigue, allowing the audience to experience the magic of Mozart’s music and to perceive the interpretations of his works within the storyline.