The Love of the Nightingale: relationships between performers and audience

The Love of the Nightingale: Relationships between Performers and Audience

Direct Address and Participation

  • Certain sections of the play make use of direct address, which refers to moments when performers speak directly to the audience. This breaks the fourth wall and creates a complicit relationship between the performers and the audience.
  • Audience participation may be solicited during these moments, establishing a creative interaction that enhances the sense of camaraderie.

Manipulation of Expectations

  • Wertenbaker uses the principle of dramatic irony extensively in the play. This creates a relationship where the audience knows more than the characters, increasing tension and generating emotional responses.
  • The deployment of sudden, disruptive events like pandemonium in the banquet scene jolts audience expectations, increasing engagement with the narrative.

Symbolism and Metaphor

  • Performers must clearly communicate symbols and metaphors, like the significance of the bird transformations, to implement an intellectual connection with the audience.
  • The effective portrayal of these elements deepens audience understanding of major themes and enhances their emotional investment in plot outcomes.

Role of Chorus

  • The chorus acts as a bridge between the performers and audience, often commenting on the action, analysing the motives of the characters, and guiding audience interpretation.
  • They also elicit empathy from the audience by expressing societal attitudes and moral implications.

Non-Verbal Communication

  • Performers utilise non-verbal cues like body language, gestures, and facial expressions to convey sub-textual messages.
  • These non-verbal messages allow performers to connect with the audience on a subliminal level, enhancing character authenticity and emotional resonance.

Suspension of Disbelief

  • Through believable character portrayals and compelling storytelling, performers foster a suspension of disbelief in the audience.
  • This imaginary contract between performers and audience is key to developing a shared emotional journey from beginning to end of the play.