Traditionally in theatre, the audience sits in front of the stage and the action is played out in front of them, and they have single viewpoint on this action throughout the performance. Theatre-in-the-round offers different seating arrangements, but still each audience member can only see the action from one fixed viewpoint. During some performances, the audience may move around, but still they have only their single view on the action.
Using projection of film and video, the audience can have more than one view on the action at any one time. As a simple example, if a camera films from the back of the stage, and this image is projected on a screen, than an audience member can see the action from both the front and the back at the same time.
An important note – projection can be used to provide the setting of the scenes or play e.g. the projection of a scenery backdrop. This is not an example of using projection to provide multiple viewpoints.
What can multiple viewpoints offer?
1 A different angle or view of the same action at the same time (close-ups, double, VOP shots)
e.g. the close up on an actor
the view from a different position relative to the stage
2 The introduction a different space or time, which can be either one or many different still or moving image(s) with a same or various perspectives.
e.g. the past
action in another location, at either the same or different time
3 A perspective on emotional and inner states of characters
e.g. representation of the character’s mood, thoughts and dreams
4 A contextual atmosphere or tone
e.g. This would not be a new viewpoint on the characters inner state, but a view on the mood or feeling of the play or scene as a whole
Is this last point really about multiple viewpoints, or is it more similar to scenery projection?
Apart from these physical aspects, multiple viewpoint work also changes, or increases, the classic sense of dramatic irony that theatre, film and narrative provide to the audience. What is dramatic irony. This describes the fact that the audience knows things which the Characters do not. For example we see in one seen that a bomb has been planted under a table. In the next scene, some characters sit around the table. The audience knows there is a bomb there, but the characters do not.
This happens all the time in narrative. Basically, the audience has privileged information; they know something that the actors don’t.
Multiple viewpoints offer many chances to work with this concept, as the characters usually do not see what is happening on the screens. (In fact, this is an interesting area of research – has anyone done a performance in which the actors do see the information on the screens?)
It would also be interesting to look for performance where not all the audience have the same multiple viewpoints, so people know different things etc., so they have different senses of dramatic irony.
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