Shared Perception: An Examination of the Perception of Theatrical Events by the Audience and Performer

Abstract

The investigation into how and why people perceive theatrical events, specifically plays, has been split between two avenues of research, the how behind audience perception and the why behind the actors’ response to performing for an audience. This proposed study hopes to bridge the gap in the literature, and find a connection between how the audience and performer perceive the theatrical event. Diagnostics were created based on previous research of how to measure the audience experience adapted with the concept of social facilitation in mind. This study tests the hypothesis that the emotional experiences of actor and audience will have a stronger relationship with their perception of the overall event than their cognitive experiences. We hoped to find a relationship between how positively both actors and audience members felt the performance went and if the actors and audience members had a positive, emotionally engaged perception of the event. While it is true that there was a stronger relationship between the actor’s self-reported emotional response and their self-reported overall perception of the show, the audience’s response was the opposite.